You got your marriage certificate and then abandoned me? I'll feed the richest woman in the wor

The heavy, pure silver base sits firmly in your palm.

The cool touch of metal travels through my well-defined fingers.

I managed to suppress a little of my annoyance at being woken up.

Chen Yuan did not turn on the main light in the corridor.

Only the cool moonlight slanted in through the Gothic-style pointed windows.

Long and short shadows were cast on the mottled stone wall.

He was wearing that loose black silk bathrobe.

Its steps were steady yet light, like a apex predator patrolling its absolute territory in the dead of night.

The leather shoes stomped on the red velvet carpet in the corridor without making even the slightest rustling sound.

"flap--"

That dull, loud thumping sound came again from the ventilation duct deep beneath our feet.

Accompanied by several sharp, mournful cries, similar to the cries of a baby less than a month old.

In the empty castle at midnight, the sound carried a penetrating, resonant echo that could drive a normal person mad.

Chen Yuan didn't pause for even half a second.

In his deep black eyes, the murderous aura had solidified into tangible frost.

He followed the direction from which the sound came and pushed open the inconspicuous wooden hidden door at the end of the first-floor corridor.

A winding, bottomless stone staircase suddenly appeared before our eyes.

This place is perpetually shrouded in darkness.

The air was filled with a strong, earthy smell, as well as the pungent, sour stench of some kind of rotting animal carcass.

The iron torch holders on the wall were already covered with thick red rust stains.

Every stone step underfoot was covered with thick, slippery, dark green moss.

It felt wet and had a chilly feel to it.

Chen Yuan stepped down the stone steps, one by one.

The deeper you go, the stronger the nauseating stench becomes, almost turning into a solid cloud of smog that completely blocks your mouth and nose.

This is the result of centuries of lack of ventilation and the accumulation of dampness over the years.

Walk to the end of the spiral staircase.

A heavy metal door, covered in thick rust and cobwebs, stood firmly in front of us.

A cold, grayish-black mist kept seeping out from the edges of the door.

"Ugh—!"

Behind the iron gate, separated by a wall.

Those few mournful cries suddenly rose eight octaves.

It became unusually irritable and intense, even bordering on fanaticism.

It was as if the creature behind the door had sensed the breathing and body temperature of a living person and was in a state of extreme excitement and frenzy.

Chen Yuan stood outside the iron gate.

He didn't even lift his eyelids.

The pure silver candlestick in his hand spun half a circle in mid-air.

Then, he slightly bent his right leg, and the muscles instantly bulged under his loose leather pajama pants.

The core muscles of the waist and abdomen suddenly tighten.

boom!

A deafening roar, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, exploded in the narrow underground passage.

That heavy iron door, weighing several hundred kilograms, sealed shut by rust and time for hundreds of years.

Under Chen Yuan's merciless and terrifying kick.

The door hinges snapped with a harsh, piercing metallic tearing sound.

The entire door was like a piece of flimsy cardboard.

The force of the kick sent him flying backwards.

It crashed heavily onto the sewage-filled stone floor of the basement.

It stirred up black mud and water that was half a foot high, and the sound echoed through the space.

The moment the door opened.

A black mist, carrying a foul stench, surged forth from within like a tidal wave.

"squeak--!"

Several enormous black shadows appeared, accompanied by ear-piercing shrieks.

It suddenly burst forth from the depths of the black fog.

With a strong, fishy smell, they formed a fan-shaped encirclement, a hunting posture.

He lunged straight at Chen Yuan, who was standing at the door with no cover.

They are incredibly fast, possessing an eerie agility honed through years of hunting in the dark.

With the faint reflection from the basement, one could vaguely see those enormous, fleshy wings that were more than a meter wide when spread out.

And on its inverted triangular head, there were tiny eyes that gleamed with a greedy red light, and sharp fangs.

If it were any ordinary person...

In the dead of night, I saw these legendary "vampire" creatures, which only appear in horror movies, rushing towards my face in a swarming attack.

They would be so terrified that their legs would go weak, they would scream and run away in panic, and they might even lose control of their bladder and bowels.

But today they ran into Chen Yuan.

That Shura who made a living by licking blood from the edge of a knife in the dark web, and who could even snap the neck of a mercenary king with his bare hands.

Chen Yuan didn't even take a single step back.

The chill in his eyes only intensified.

"court death."

He snorted coldly, his voice revealing undisguised disgust.

The muscles in his right arm swelled instantly, and he swung it up violently.

The pure silver candlestick in his hand was enhanced by absolute power.

It instantly transformed into an incredibly fast silver afterimage.

call--!

The heavy sterling silver base tore through the air, producing a sharp, high-pitched whistling sound.

It sent chills down my spine more than the sound of any sword being swung.

They accurately met the largest, most prominent black figure charging ahead.

Click!

A sharp, teeth-grinding sound of bones cracking rang out.

The enormous creature didn't even make the slightest movement to dodge.

He was struck squarely on the fragile head by a pure silver candlestick.

The piercing screams abruptly stopped.

His whole body looked like a baseball that had been hit to a home run.

Its trajectory was abruptly altered mid-air, and it flew back at an even faster speed than when it had come at them.

It crashed heavily onto the moss-covered stone wall of the basement.

It slipped into a muddy puddle, twitched twice, and then fell silent.

The remaining two dark figures saw this.

Seemingly driven by animal instinct, they sensed a dangerous aura emanating from the human before them, a danger a hundred times more terrifying than their own.

They suddenly folded their membranous wings in mid-air, trying to force their way to the upper vents to escape.

But Chen Yuan didn't give them that chance at all.

He spun the candlestick in his hand, using the momentum from before.

He delivered a sharp, diagonal slash with his backhand.

A silver afterimage flashed again in the dimly lit basement space.

boom!boom!

Two dull thuds sounded almost simultaneously.

The two dark figures were struck hard by the candlestick, damaging their fragile membrane wings.

It emitted a series of distorted hisses, like a kite with a broken string.

It plunged headfirst into a corner covered in dust and huge cobwebs, its tattered wings, soaked with mud and water, unable to fly again.

Three seconds.

From the moment the iron gate was kicked open until the battle was completely over.

Everything was done cleanly and efficiently, without any hesitation or stalemate.

Chen Yuan put away the deformed candlestick.

He casually pulled out a high-powered tactical flashlight from his pajama pocket and turned it on.

The blinding white light instantly pierced through the thick black fog in the basement.

This illuminated the enclosed space, which had been dark for hundreds of years, making it as bright as day.

He walked in with steady steps.

The leather shoes made a soft clattering sound as they stepped into the puddles.

Walk to that corner covered in cobwebs.

The powerful beam of the flashlight shone on the "vampires" who were still convulsing on the ground.

Chen Yuan lowered his head slightly and saw the true appearance of these monsters.

There were no bloodthirsty counts with fangs.

There were no ancient nobles dressed in tailcoats and with pale faces.

Lying on the ground were three mutated giant fruit bats of exaggerated size.

These bats have extremely large wingspans and shrill cries that do indeed resemble the cries of a newborn baby.

Because they live year-round in the cold, dark underground environment of the ancient castle, they lack natural predators.

It grew a thick, dirty, long black hair.

When flying in the dark, its enormous size makes it easy for the terrified locals to mistake it for a legendary vampire.

Chen Yuan frowned in disgust as he looked at the giant bat still fluttering on the ground: "These few hairy rats dare to come out and play tricks?"