Chapter 124: Cooperation

In the dead of night, after dozens of hours of exhaustion, Ye Feng still couldn’t fall asleep. Having reached the Golden Core stage, sleep wasn’t essential for him, but a habit formed over twenty years wasn’t something that could be changed overnight. Although Long Tian had reached the Nascent Soul stage, he still slept soundly every night, and because of this, his cultivation seemed to improve day by day.

Ye Feng held his head in his hands, staring blankly at the ceiling. With no leads left regarding the man in the black robe and mask, he could only turn to Dracula to see if he could provide any clues.

But Ye Feng didn’t know where Dracula had gone. In his castle, there were only Edward and the woman whose head had been cut off—no other servants at all. This worried Ye Feng. If no one informed Dracula, he would have to wait until he returned to his own castle to find out that his subordinates had been killed. In that case, he wouldn’t know how long it would take before he could see Dracula again.

As he pondered this, he sensed someone watching him—a keen intuition born from being strong. Although the opponent didn’t show any murderous intent, Ye Feng could sense it clearly. Three years of training in the Refinement Realm had made his intuition even sharper; in such a place, the slightest carelessness could mean becoming prey for magical beasts.

Ye Feng remained lying in bed, patiently waiting for the opponent to appear. Though he appeared relaxed, his muscles were tense.

Suddenly, the window shattered, and a gust of wind carrying glass shards rushed toward Ye Feng. He quickly pulled up the bedsheet and spun it in his hand, turning the wind into nothingness and blocking every single piece of glass.

Ye Feng saw a dark figure flash past the window—its appearance somewhat resembling that of a vampire. He hurriedly rushed out through the window, using his movement skills to chase after it.

The two chased each other into a dense forest on the outskirts. The figure with outstretched bat wings finally stopped. Its voice was gloomy, “I never expected you to dare chase after me alone. This is even better…”

“Are you Dracula or some other vampire count?” Ye Feng judged the opponent’s strength from their earlier attack. Under the moonlight, he saw that it was a young man with a slight mustache, whose appearance bore some resemblance to the killed Edward.

“Oh, I didn’t expect you to have heard of me!” Dracula didn’t deny it. “But who are these other counts you mentioned? Could it be Nikola? I remember you should know him!”
“I mean counts other than you and Nikola!” Ye Feng said bluntly.
“No, no, no… I think you don’t understand at all.” Dracula waved his hand quickly. “There are only two vampire counts in the entire world—me and that idiot Nikola. There’s no third one, understand?”
“How do you know there’s no third one? Maybe someone was promoted recently?” Ye Feng thought Dracula’s certainty about the absence of a third count was rather arbitrary.
“Even if he was promoted a minute ago, I could sense it clearly.” Dracula wore a mocking smile, seemingly ridiculing Ye Feng’s ignorance. “Vampires are a special race with a trait that allows them to detect the existence of other vampires of the same rank within a certain range. This trait enables vampires to unite when necessary, preventing many major disasters.”
“In any corner of this world, if a third vampire count appeared, he would definitely not escape my and Nikola’s detection! Our detection range covers the entire Earth. Those other counts you mentioned are complete nonsense.” Dracula continued to mock him.
“Alright, then please tell me—have you been to City H in the past few days?” Ye Feng’s question was more direct.
“No. The last time I came to this country was ten years ago… also in City H…” Dracula shook his head and looked at Ye Feng in surprise. “Why ask such a silly question?”
“Because it’s what I’m investigating!” Ye Feng frowned. He couldn’t be sure whether Dracula was telling the truth or lying.
“I think you can stop your investigation!” Dracula gave Ye Feng a strange smile. “After asking so long, you still haven’t asked the most important question!”
“You mean, the reason you came here?” Ye Feng shook his head and smiled. “Since you came to see me, you must know that your butler and maid are already dead, right?”
“Do you have any reasonable explanation?” Dracula’s expression darkened like a sky covered by clouds.

“I don’t know who killed them! Although I should have been the first witness, I didn’t see the killer. By the time I arrived at your castle, the killer had already fled London and disappeared.” Ye Feng thought Dracula was coming to ask him about the killer’s whereabouts.
“So you’re saying someone killed Edward and Angel, but it wasn’t you?” Dracula narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression full of suspicion.
“You think I killed them????” Only then did Ye Feng realize why Dracula had come after him. “Why would I kill them? I met Edward for the first time, and as for that woman, I only saw her corpse—I’ve never seen her alive. How can you think I’m the killer?”
“Then explain why, on the very day you visited my castle, my butler and maid were killed? Why not at some other time?” Dracula certainly wouldn’t believe Ye Feng’s explanation so easily.
“Someone is killing strangers I come into contact with.” After hesitating for a while, Ye Feng decided to reveal the truth. “I don’t know their purpose or who they are. All I know is that they seem to be targeting me. Everyone who comes into contact with me gets killed. It’s very likely that Edward and the other person also became victims for this reason.”
“How am I supposed to believe you?” Dracula stared intently at Ye Feng, trying to figure out if he was lying or telling the truth.
“Four days ago, I planned to visit the ghost market in City H to see if I could find what I wanted. After my friend and I arrived there, everyone there was slaughtered. We tried every method to find the killer, but the only clue was that one of the killers spread his bat wings while fleeing, and that killer must be at least a count in terms of strength.” Ye Feng slowly recounted what had happened recently. “This is also the main reason I visited Nicholas and you—I want to know who is responsible for this massacre. Do you think I would kill people carelessly without figuring things out first?”
“Other than me, it can only be Nicholas. Since I didn’t do it, it must be Nicholas!” Dracula said as if it were obvious.
“Nicholas suffered severe internal injuries a couple of days ago and will need at least ten days to fully recover. How could it be him?” Ye Feng shook his head.

“With that kind of injury, taking healing pills can allow for a complete recovery within twelve hours. Do you really think Nikola is the kind of person who would just lie in bed for over ten days?” Dracula found Ye Feng’s idea rather naive.
Hearing Dracula’s words, Ye Feng thought there was some truth to them indeed—Nikola certainly wasn’t the kind of person who could stay idle. “Before things are clarified, I hope you’ll stay in City H until everything is resolved. I’ll also help you find the killers of your butler and maid. Consider it a form of cooperation!”