Fang Zhen, Alchemy Ointnt in hand, watched as the soldiers staggered and fell one after another, dropping their weapons as if they had truly been poisoned.
The occasional slow-witted soldier who didn’t know what was happening was pulled down by his comrades.
In the blink of an eye, all seventy or eighty soldiers surrounding Fang Zhen’s group were lying on the ground, pretending to be poisoned and refusing to get up.
Fang Zhen let out a soft chuckle.
He understood the soldiers’ ntality perfectly.
The vast majority of these n were from the Ellick Territory; being a soldier was just a way to put food on the table. Their willingness to attack just now had little to do with loyalty to Count Ellick. It was mostly driven by the fear of being punished for dereliction of duty later.
Fang Zhen had co with the absolute intention of killing Ellick, as had Gwendolyn and the others. This was a kill-or-be-killed situation; they were operating under the firm belief that Ellick had to die.
But that was their perspective. From the soldiers’ point of view, the outco was uncertain. They didn’t know if Ellick would actually be killed. If he wasn’t, they would be in deep trouble, which is why they didn’t dare to turn their cloaks.
To put it bluntly, what drove the soldiers to advance and potentially attack wasn’t loyalty or honor—it was fear.
Fang Zhen, seeing through their psychology, had given them a convenient excuse to shirk responsibility. With one move, he had completely erased their last shred of motivation to fight.
’After all, they were "poisoned." Even a Vampire Count can’t ask the impossible, right?’
Once they had an excuse, the soldiers’ will to fight vanished. They no longer had any reason to risk their lives.
Besides, the dungeon intel had already pointed out that common soldiers could be persuaded and that they tended to seek advantages while avoiding harm.
And so, a field of n now lay before them.
Satisfied, Fang Zhen capped the jar of Alchemy Ointnt and, with a smooth and practiced motion, pocketed it in his pouch.
Nearby, Karen winced as he watched.
’A single bottle of Alchemy Ointnt costs a lot of money.’
’What annoyed Karen even more was that Fang Zhen’s idea had been unexpectedly brilliant. He’d resolved the crisis without any bloodshed. It felt like he’d gotten to look cool again.’
’Karen was sure that if he’d just thought about it a little harder, he could have co up with the sa idea. But now Fang Zhen got all the credit.’
’Damn it! He stole the spotlight again.’
’And we’re out a bottle of Alchemy Ointnt. In this situation, it would be too embarrassing to ask for it back.’
"Huh? Since when did the Whig Society have such a powerful poison?"
"We’re not poisoned... does that an we took an antidote beforehand?"
Pat suddenly piped up.
The mont he spoke, several pairs of eyes turned to Pat. Even Fang Zhen shot him a sidelong glance.
"What’s everyone looking at for? Did I say sothing wrong?" Pat asked, still clueless.
"Sigh." For once, the talkative Karen was silent. He looked at Pat with a mixture of pity and sympathy.
Fang Zhen also shook his head slightly.
’Okay, I can rule out the possibility of Pat being a mole.’
’Being a mole would be too much for him.’
"Let’s go. We’re entering the Ancient Castle. The real fight is just beginning," Gwendolyn said.
The group, including a still-confused Pat, turned and ran toward the castle.
As they ran, Gwendolyn, Pat, and Karen each took out and consud a yellow, gummy-like gel cube, about three-by-three centiters in size.
Fang Zhen was a little curious.
"It’s an energy gel," Pat explained. "Eating it speeds up physical recovery and can even quicken the restoration of the Power of Curse Seal."
"Get so ready for after we’re done with Ellick. I’ll pay you for them," Fang Zhen said.
The group moved quickly, entering Ellick Castle.
「Inside Ellick Castle.」
The castle’s interior structure wasn’t complex, but the spaces were vast. The Ancient Castle didn’t seem to have been designed solely as a military base. Its outer defenses were already more than sufficient; the interior felt more like a massive, functional laboratory.
Fang Zhen and his group passed through the Ancient Castle, first traversing a long corridor, then entering a great hall. After crossing another corridor, they finally arrived in a chamber deep within the fortress.
This was an enormous hall, reminiscent of a great cathedral’s nave, even down to the architectural style. Besides its vast floor space, the ceiling was over seven or eight ters high. Along the walls were stained-glass windows—a rarity in this region—allowing so natural light to filter in.
The floor of the hall was made of bluestone, much of which was covered by red carpets. Their color was a deep crimson, looking less like dye and more as if they had been soaked in blood.
Unlike a typical church, the hall contained no pews and was relatively empty. Toward the far end of the room stood an enormous, blood-red coffin.
The coffin was over three ters long, more like an outer sarcophagus than a simple casket. If soone was inside, they would have to be imnse.
Upon entering the hall, Fang Zhen stopped in his tracks.
He scanned the area. ’All the classic elents are here.’
Looking at the enormous red stone coffin, he couldn’t help but feel a cynical thought bubble up.
’What is it with vampires and their love for coffins? Are those things really that comfortable to sleep in?’
Gwendolyn and the others had also stopped.
Gwendolyn’s expression was grave.
"Be careful," Gwendolyn said. "That coffin is likely where Ellick slumbers. There might be a special apparatus inside that circulates blood, allowing the vampire to remain in a state of slumber without truly dying."
As if on cue, the enormous coffin began to move.
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