Chapter 98: The Vampire Spawn of Green Meadow Town

A few days later, in a small town not far from the capital.

This is Green Meadow Town; a little boy stands at the town's entrance, holding a ball‑like toy. He tosses the ball onto the ground, and the sphere, extremely bouncy, springs back into his hand.

The boy continues to play with the ball when a line of silhouettes lights up on the distant path—a road the townsmen painstakingly dug out twenty years ago, linking the town with distant cities. Though uneven, it greatly eases the arrival of caravans.

Thinking another caravan has arrived, the boy looks up eagerly, pulls two copper coins from his pocket—his mother's allowance—and hopes to find something novel and fun in the caravan, just like his ball.

The sound of hooves grows nearer, and the distant figures become clearer. At the front are a dozen men in heavy leather armor, many with scars on their faces or exposed arms, their eyes radiating ferocity.

They are a band of mercenaries.

Behind them, in the middle of the column, rides a man on a black horse, cloaked in a black mage's robe. At his side, four masked knights clad in black iron armor guard him.

At the caravan's rear is a massive carriage, and at its front a graceful rider in white armor steers the black horse pulling the carriage.

The boy is frightened; this caravan differs from the ones he's seen—there are no stacked goods, nor any jovial uncle hawking wares.

Only terrifying adults.

The boy stares blankly at the approaching group, and Dao Ba Lian, the scar‑faced mercenary at the front, shouts at him impatiently.

"Hey, little brat, know where the best tavern in town is?"

The boy nervously hiccups and shakes his head vigorously; Dao Ba Lian's expression grows even more terrifying as he furrows his brow, a malicious grin in his eyes.

"Stop crying, little brat. I'm just teasing you. If you keep crying, we'll be in trouble," he says, covering the boy's mouth and glancing back, his face full of distress.

From the carriage behind, a faint "tch" sound emanates, indicating impatience; the four black knights all glance at Dao Ba Lian. Though they say nothing or turn back, Dao Ba Lian senses a heavy malice staring at him.

The feeling sends a chill down his spine, as if his head might be torn off any moment.

The cloaked figure in the middle moves, raising his hand as if to halt the nearby black knights, then lifts his hood to reveal golden hair and a flawless handsome face.

Seeing the beautiful half‑elf, the boy forgets his crying, hiccups again, and Dao Ba Lian finally relaxes.

The half‑elf smiles faintly at the boy and says, "Little friend, tell me, do you know where the tavern in town is?"

The boy pauses, then points the direction. This irritates Dao Ba Lian, the mercenary, who wonders why he doesn't know the answer himself while the pretty youngster does.

After learning the location, the half‑elf turns to the carriage and gently asks, "Shall we rest here? Master."

Someone inside the carriage remains silent for a moment, then says, "Fine."

The boy steps aside, watches the group head toward the town, then, feeling uneasy, runs back toward his home.

Meanwhile, the only tavern in Green Meadow Town—"Dwarf's Firestone"—welcomes the strangers.

The tavern's wooden door swings open, and the patrons inside glance at the newcomers, all frozen in surprise.

A silver‑haired youth in an ornate black mage's robe stands there, his expressionless handsome face framed by gold‑rimmed glasses. He coldly scans the room, snaps his fingers, and a man and a woman follow him inside.

Both the man and woman have golden hair and astonishing beauty; the three of them together give the tavern a surreal, other‑worldly aesthetic.

Losri En clears his throat lightly, having rushed here from Degeng City; such a scene occurs in almost every tavern, and often short‑sighted fools cause trouble with their lower halves, daring to tease a dragon's whiskers.

Only heaven knows how much he wishes to tell his master; perhaps we should learn some countries' customs and wrap our whole faces in headscarves? Beside him, Ke Li Te is also speechless; based on the past few days' experience, within five minutes one of the three will be randomly chosen by a drunken patron for teasing, and if the drunk is greedy, all three may be targeted.

The scene often turns brutally bloody after a humanoid dragon erupts in fury.

To avoid cleaning up a mess herself, Ke Li Te goes straight to the bar counter, pulls out ten gold coins, and tosses them at the bartender.

"Three of the best rooms; if that's not enough, at least guarantee that one is the finest room you have here."

The bartender is a dwarf who isn't at all swayed by Ke Li Te's looks; in fact, by dwarf standards none of the three are even decent.

To them, only a big beard, big muscles, and a woman with a coarse voice are sexy! The dwarf picks up a coin, bites it, then spits it out: "Pah, that's not enough money."

"Jieshi, I don't want Yinbu Tu Kingdom coins. If you want to give Jieshi ten gold coins for three suites, you must use coins from another country!".

"Of course," Jieshi smirks slyly, "if you don't have them, Jieshi can also accept fifteen Yinbu Tu Kingdom gold coins."

Ke Li Te goes "tch", noting that since the Yinbu Tu Kingdom war, coin values have plummeted, and several taverns along the way have been charging higher rates for domestic coins.

The affluent countess, too lazy to seek other coins, simply pulls out five gold coins and tosses them at the dwarf named Jieshi.

"Are you sure you're a dwarf and not a halfling?" Ke Li Te taunts.

The dwarf fumes, his anger flaring; though both dwarves and halflings are short, dwarves loathe being lumped with halflings, insisting they're not greedy, whiny creatures. "You're a halfling, and your whole family are halflings!"

The dwarf grumbles, pockets the coins, tosses out three keys, and says coldly, "If you don't want to die, stay indoors at night."

Ke Li Te is puzzled but doesn't dwell on it, joking that the seemingly frail youth beside her is actually as tough as a wolf‑snake demon; any short‑sighted fool who tries anything against them would be courting death.

Losri En sighs in relief when Ke Li Te finally returns, feeling that the young man beside him is growing increasingly impatient.

Naimi Xisi is indeed very impatient; if the Five Spell Circle Conjuration Spell "Li O Meng's Secret Residence" weren't so small, he really wouldn't want to set up in a crowded, noisy tavern.

But everything will improve, Naimi Xisi tells himself.

When he upgrades to a Seven Spell Circle Mage, he can use the Mage Mansion Technique to enter a luxurious standalone villa that exists only in a half‑plane, created by his own imagination!

Or he could use the Ice Crystal Castle, creating a massive fortress of ice; the only drawback is it may be a bit cold, best used with a blanket! The three ascend to the second floor, and Naimi Xisi, surprised, finds the town's inn rooms unexpectedly well‑arranged, comparable to a city like Degeng.

The room's furniture has an old‑world luxurious style; beside the king‑size bed made of fruit‑wood stands a copper mirror framed with gold.

When Naimi Xisi passes the mirror, he suddenly pauses, then flops onto the bed in a sprawling position, ready to sleep.

For a dragon, sleeping is the finest entertainment in the world.

Late night, inside the room.

The boy on the bed has fallen into deep sleep, his breathing even.

A ripple suddenly spreads across the copper mirror's surface, and a pale arm with sharp, filthy nails emerges from it.

First the arm, then the head, chest, and finally an entire body crawl out of the mirror.

It is a woman who looks very old, eyes flashing with malice, dressed in tattered clothes that once must have been a very luxurious robe.

Her skin is extremely pale, lips bright red, and two sharp canines protrude from her lips, making the blood‑red mouth even more striking.

"What a delicious boy, chomp chomp chomp."

The woman greedily watches the sleeping boy's face, drooling.

She is a vampire derivative that has lived for several decades; in her past human life, men were her greatest hobby, and even after becoming a vampire, this only made her more greedy.

She is a vampire spawn that has lived for decades; during her human life, men were her greatest hobby, and even after becoming a vampire, that only made her greedier.

A dirty claw smeared with black sludge, at the instant it was about to touch the boy's face, the boy who had his eyes closed suddenly opened his eyes.

At the same moment, the woman's face instantly stiffened and froze; she remained completely still, only her eyeballs continuing to spin.

"What a disgusting creature; I even feel that if Mind Power entered your mind, it would be contaminated by you."

Naimi Xisi spoke with disgust.

He snapped his fingers; the vampire derivative's pupils instantly became unfocused, endless Mana surged into the other's mind, compelling them to speak their deepest secret.

"Why do you want to kill me?" Naimi Xisi asked.

"For feeding. I heard newcomers have arrived in the town; I haven't eaten humans in a long time, I want to try."

"Oh?" Naimi Xisi frowned.

"Why not eat the people in the town?"

"Because we're afraid of being discovered, the Empress let us hide in the shadows of Greengrass Town; the population is too small, so not eating prevents discovery."

"Who is the Empress?"

Naimi Xisi's question seemed to touch a vampire taboo; her expression twisted, and she said nothing.

Helpless, Naimi Xisi had no choice but to use Mind Power to infiltrate the other's memory.

But the next moment, black flames suddenly appeared, and the vampire was reduced to ashes within the fire.

Naimi Xisi frowned tightly; it was merely a vampire derivative, just a 5th-level Cannon Fodder Monster, yet the person behind it had actually expended great effort to cast a prophecy spell to guard the secret.

"The Empress?"

(End of Chapter)