The bard fantasized again.

Chapter 216 The Identity of the Corpse (4k)

"The fog seems to have been drawn away."

The crimson fog had vanished without a trace, and even the grayish-white mist that permeated the surrounding area was thinner than before.

Arthur looked around hesitantly, but could not know for sure what was happening outside.

"Dawn, use [Divine Perception]."

Tang Qi withdrew his empathy for the clone—

All you need to do is have the clone carry the prepared blood bag, and after leaving the cabin, slowly open the bottle to release the smell of blood.

The mist that filled the cabin would drift away as if drawn by the direction the replica had left.

During this time, they might try to invade the clone's skin and drink its blood.

However, with the added bonus of the [Enhanced Attributes] to constitution, the clone's skin is as thick as oak.

He will not dissipate unless attacked.

An hour was enough time for him to carry the blood bag to a faraway place, spill the blood, and attract the surrounding vampire mist.

As an undead being, Dawn is the only one that is not affected by the mist.

She circled the hut Arthur had sculpted, sending ripples across her chest and spreading outwards, and answered with certainty:

"Nothing."

"Very good, it seems we can leave here and continue on our way."

Tang Qi relayed the message that they were temporarily safe to everyone, and then had Kuru use his magical tricks to clean the stains and bloodstains off them completely.

Feder didn't expect they would have to go further:
"Didn't you understand what I meant? This is all a hoax—there's no witch, no food, only a blood mist permeating this area!"

“We haven’t even reached the location of Kane’s sacrifice yet, how do you know there’s no food?” Tang Qi asked.

"Because I know that place!"

Fede felt a mix of emotions.

She shouldn't have explained these things, but she couldn't help worrying about Arthur's situation—

This guy saved her life, and she has no reason to just watch him go and die.

So she sighed and told her everything:
"The place where we offer our sacrificial food is the very territory where the witch once resided—"

It was an ancient castle, which they decorated to resemble a palace, making the surrounding forests lush and vibrant, just like a manor or castle from a fairy tale.

After they left, Kane and I, along with several brutes who had once been driven by them and had survived, prepared to renovate the castle into a suitable habitat, which would save us a lot of trouble.

We plan to renovate the rooms in the castle so that at least every displaced beastman can have a place to stay that can shelter them from the wind and rain.

Everything was proceeding according to plan, until the night of the twin moons arrived…

Fide reminisced about the past; although ten years had passed, every scene from those times seemed etched into her mind.

"The nights of the two moons each year are the hardest days for us to get through."

Uncontrollable primal instincts can drive us beyond the confines of reason, causing us to run wild through the forest, following the guidance of our instincts to tear apart every life before us, except for those of our cursed brethren.

But when the night of the two moons ends and we regain our senses, the hunger brought on by a night of exhaustion will quickly consume all the food we have.

This forced us to choose to go hunting—

Of course, we will not choose to let everyone go out. Some reclusive beastmen have their own wives and children and do not have the ability to go out and face danger.

Therefore, in Kane, they would light a campfire in the castle and use the aroma of roasted ferns and herbs to guide the hunting party back.

But in the first year of their stay at the castle, the lingering blood mist drained their lives. When we returned to the castle, only desiccated corpses remained in the open space of the manor, and only a few children huddled inside the castle survived…”

Tang Qi listened to the story from back then, but his steps didn't stop; he had already shouldered his bag and continued on his way to his destination.

[Vampire Mist] is a type of undead creature. Since Dawn sensed that everything around him was peaceful, he naturally had no worries.

He just kept frowning along the way, looking rather disbelieving.
"Since that castle is the witch's territory, and Kane has been her lackey for so many years, how could he possibly know about the existence of the Blood Mist?"

“He had never heard of this before—we guessed that during the time the witches were stationed there, they must have been the ones who stopped the blood mist from attacking.”

Fied shook his head; there was no need to hide anything now.

"When they left, the illusion that held this ancient castle together was gone, and the blood mist once again engulfed this area."

Judging from their blood-sucking habits, Kane deduced that they must also appear after two months to forage, so we had no choice but to leave the castle and move to our current location.

However, every two months later, blood mist would still occasionally disturb our lives, so Kane would try to send the dying prey to the area around the castle to fill the bellies of the mist.

Since then, the blood mist has rarely been seen around the village.

"In other words, our destination is that ancient castle," Tang Qi clarified his objective.

"But the food sent there has already been drained of its nutrients!"

Fide felt like a noisy cicada in the summer, buzzing incessantly, clearly making a racket, yet no one cared.

"We haven't been able to fulfill either our needs for the witch or the food. Wouldn't it be even more of a loss to turn back now?"

Tang Qi has no plans to return for the time being.
"Aren't you curious about the existence of this blood mist? Why are there so many vampire remains floating in the air?"

"Who would care about something like that!?"

Feder was somewhat annoyed.

"It simply exists, and it has existed for a long time—do you care how bread is made when you eat it?"

"Of course I will. Whether the flour is made from rye or other sources, whether butter or vegetable oil is used, the kneading force (light or heavy)... all these factors determine whether the bread tastes good or not."

"But we're heading towards a bizarre destination, not eating bread!"

"It is precisely because it is strange, precisely because it is unknown, that I want to taste what this bread tastes like."

Tang Qi turned to look at Fede.

"You used to be an adventurer, don't you even understand this simplest of principles?"

"..."

Fide thought the man was crazy.

During her time as a mercenary, she often heard a term from her colleagues—

Adventurous spirit.

"That's all bullshit."

Those mercenaries always say that.

There are only three things that are most important in this world.

Money, power, and life!
What is risk? Risking your life for wealth, that's risking your life!

The "spirit of adventure" that some people talk about is nothing but a fabricated excuse made up after seeing others lose their lives and fail to make any money!

Even after she wandered around as an adventurer, she still regarded this sentence as the guiding principle of her life, longing for a stable place to live.

Now someone is telling her that she risked her life and ventured into dangerous places just to find out the truth?
“If you treat life like a joke, life will treat you like a joke.” Arthur also disagreed with this.

"Everyone has a different perspective on life. Just like you know the road ahead is dangerous, but you still want to move forward with me, so don't try to lecture me."

"You're looking for fun, I'm looking for vampires. It just so happens that we're on the same road; we're not the same in essence."

Arthur reiterated his purpose.

"Yes, um, that's right. On the way to spread the word, we encountered a vampire clone in a village. After purifying him, we ventured into the Dawn Forest to try and find the origin of the vampires."

You've already told this story; it's nothing new.

Tang Qi roughly summarized Arthur's story—

His description was rather general and lacked many details, but that is indeed the story.

While exploring the forest, he got lost and stumbled upon a village of beastmen. He decided to exorcise the curse for them, but instead, Kane saw him as a thorn in his side.

Left with no other choice, he used the [Leo Monk's Hut] to isolate himself from them, wasting time in the village.

Tang Qi recorded the most noteworthy aspects of the other person's entire experience—

Victims who are bitten by vampires but are not completely drained into mummies are mostly transformed into an undead creature called a 'vampire derivative'.

They possess the same bloodlust as vampires, yet are controlled by them. Only if the vampire agrees to let their offspring drink their blood can they have the possibility of transforming into true vampires, breaking free from control, and gaining freedom.

However, usually, the derivative body only gains freedom when the vampire dies.

After all, these proud creatures enjoy submission more than cooperation.

"In your eyes, is something that concerns human life and death something that can be evaluated with a glaring word like 'fresh,' just like vegetables?"

Tang Qi knew this guy was going to try to take advantage of him again, so he quickly gave up the idea of ​​continuing to pester him.

Teaming up with someone who respects order and kindness is practically the death of him.

He'd rather have a fool like Sivana around, at least she wouldn't be constantly nagging him about peace and love.

However, Arthur and Fide's statements may indeed confirm the existence of vampires in the Dusk Forest.

After all, this forest, which is always shrouded in gray fog and never sees the sunlight, is indeed the best habitat for these dark creatures.

It's hard not to be excited about this.

I'm referring to beings with such long lifespans, which should satisfy some of my curiosity as a storyteller, not the act of feeling their body temperature—

In fact, I can roughly imagine what that feeling must be like.

Alluring, cold, blasphemous… I admit it’s tempting, really. But I don’t want the other person to suddenly bite my neck while we’re doing something.

Although in Longjincheng's library, one can often see novels describing vampires as noble and aloof, it's as if they're telling others, 'You shouldn't be human anymore, hurry up and join the vampire family.'

But I don't think anyone would want to be immersed in darkness forever.

At least I don't want to.

After all, choosing darkness means losing the right to enjoy the sunlight.

Why can't I have both?

With his expertise in the "Guide" skill, Tang Qi can rely on his general sense of direction to navigate straight to his destination.

During this process, dawn will occasionally release [Divine Perception] to probe whether there is anything unusual in the surrounding mist.

Perhaps because the previous bait was so effective, they did not encounter any further dangers along the way.

But the somber atmosphere still made Fied uneasy.

She already felt insecure in this area.

Moreover, Tang Qi thought Arthur was a bit noisy, and that in Arthur's eyes he was like a prisoner with no human rights.

The kobold was reading a book as he walked along the road, while the knight remained silent like a dead man.

In the long silence, she could only calmly feel the damp coldness on her skin, occasionally rubbing her sticky palms together, unable to distinguish whether it was cold sweat or just water droplets.

Before my eyes, all I could see was thick fog and shadows curling up within it.

The thick fog was so dense that it blurred the line between light and darkness.

They always traveled through a gray and black landscape.

Fide hesitated, unable to discern the exact route from the approximate scenery.

But her sense of time told her that she should be arriving at her destination soon:

"There wasn't this thick fog here before; something's not right."

They were only two or three meters apart, but now all they could see were dark, shadow-like outlines.

It only takes one person to quicken their pace to easily lose sight of someone.

“Now is your best chance to escape. You can pray that we lose you.” Tang Qi raised the Ring of Glory.

"We've come this far; it's not safe for me to go back alone."

Fied made up an excuse at random.

But she felt there was no reason to go back.

She thought that she couldn't let the pastor down at the very least—

Tang Qi's attention was also focused on Arthur.

Realizing he couldn't orient himself in the fog and was about to drift away from the group, he quickly grabbed his arm:

"Just follow the light."

"No, there are people there."

Arthur pointed in a distant direction and hesitated.

How can you see so far?

Tang Qi subconsciously looked in that direction, but instead saw several figures in the distance, hovering in mid-air as if suspended in mid-air—

Ropes extended from above their heads.

It was as if I was being suspended from something.

Given the dim visibility, it was not a shadow they could perceive at all.

But they stand there like signposts, as if afraid that others won't see them.

"It's like bait," Tang Qi said.

This is obvious.

"But I have to go and see."

Arthur stubbornly insisted,
"Even if it is a corpse, it should not be desecrated in this way."

They couldn't refuse the priest, but his ability to dispel undead creatures was very suitable for the current environment and was quite tempting.

Tang Qi finally shrugged: "You go first and scout ahead."

Arthur did not refuse and walked toward the Hanged Man on his own.

As the group approached, Tang Qi was able to clearly see their outlines and numbers:
"Four ordinary people and one dwarf."

"Why mention 'dwarves' separately?" Arthur asked.

"I just wanted to prove that the murderer couldn't have been a dwarf."

"Because they won't harm their own kind?"

"Because they can't hang the body that high."

"..."

"Kuru, detect the trap."

"no!"

In response to Kulu's brief reply, Tang Qi walked to the broad tree trunk from which several bodies were hanging, brandished his scimitar, and easily cut the ropes binding them.

With a "bang, bang," several corpses fell in front of Tang Qi, giving him the opportunity to approach and examine them closely.

"How can it be!?"

The first person to do so, Fede, immediately sat down on the ground and subconsciously took two steps back.

"Is it someone you know?"

Tang Qi frowned and also removed the hood that was covering the corpse's face.

His breath caught.

They stood there, stunned.

The corpse before him had a livid face and a ferocious appearance.

His black hair was disheveled and draped over his furrowed brows; his unclosed black eyes were bloodshot, reflecting a shadow identical to that of a corpse—

Tang Qi couldn't possibly not recognize his identity.

Because that's Don Quixote Weinberger.

(End of this chapter)