Chapter 107: My brain is above you

Night fell, the gas lamps on the street cast a dim yellow glow in the fog.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of Ger Street No. 17, the sound of its wheels rolling over gravel especially clear on the quiet street.

Feiluo jumped down from the carriage first, his boots making a faint sound on the pavement.

He looked around; this remote street hardly had any passersby, only a few streetlights glowing alone in the fog.

"Such a remote place," Feiluo said, lifting his head to look at the building before him, clicking his tongue.

"No wonder it's haunted."

The building before them was a typical Victorian-style house, appearing quite ordinary.

Van Helsing followed closely, stepping down from the carriage, and as soon as he steadied himself he furrowed his brows sharply.

He took a deep breath, his expression instantly turning grave: "Something's off, there's the smell of vampires here!"

"Quite normal, vampires are also ghosts."

"What?"

Yu Lin got down afterward, seeing their puzzled expressions, and realizing that in their English the words for vampire and ghost are not the same, he casually said:

"Sorry, I forgot your English can't play this pun."

"All right, it's fine, let's go."

He walked toward that building.

Feiluo and Van Helsing exchanged a glance, didn't say anything, and followed.

They arrived at the door.

They knocked on the door.

No one answered.

They knocked again.

Still no response.

It was dead quiet, as if no one had lived here for a long time.

"Move aside."

Van Helsing stepped forward in front of the two and kicked the door open with a lift of his foot.

The moment the door was kicked open, a blast of cold air hit them.

Inside was pitch black, except for a swaying oil lamp at the stairwell corner emitting a faint light that cast shadows on the walls.

"Who are you?!" a low male voice came from upstairs, clearly angry:

"Who gave you permission to barge in?"

The three looked up and saw a slender young man standing at the top of the stairs.

He wore a well-tailored black butler's uniform, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

Van Helsing stepped forward, locking eyes with the young man from a distance:

"We were commissioned to come here to perform an exorcism."

"Are you the master of this place?"

The young man walked down the stairs slowly, his leather shoes making a clear sound on the wooden steps.

"Commissioned? To do an exorcism?" he repeated Van Helsing's words, brows furrowed:

"I'm not the master of this place, just a butler."

He paused midway on the stairs, slightly bowing: "My name is Bar."

"Besides, sorry, we don't need an exorcism here; please leave."

The young man was indeed Bar; in fact he knew Van Helsing besides Yu Lin, because Dracula had previously ordered him to gather information, and now he was merely pretending not to know.

But he truly didn't know about the commission for an exorcism, so he's puzzled now.

Van Helsing shook his head, his gaze like a torch fixed on Bar: "This place definitely needs an exorcism."

"And... you're a vampire, right?"

Bar's expression didn't change at all, only a hint of just-right confusion appearing in his eyes: "I'm a vampire?"

He gave a light chuckle, his tone tinged with helplessness: "Sir, your judgment seems to need improvement."

He gracefully turned, pointing to a transparent display case in the hall's corner: "How about we look there first?"

Van Helsing followed the direction of Bar's finger with his gaze.

In the exquisite glass case lay a pallid skull on a red velvet cushion; its upper jaw canines were unusually sharp, clearly unlike a normal person's.

"This is the vampire skull collected by my master," Bar said with a hint of pride:

"An ancient specimen from Transylvania."

Feiluo leaned close to the glass case, examining the skull carefully.

In the dim light, the skull's eye sockets seemed to retain faint traces of dark red.

Bar then pointed to another display case: "Not only vampires, my master also collected werewolf fur specimens."

In that glass case, a complete wolf pelt was carefully spread out.

The gray-black fur gleamed with an eerie sheen in the light, the sharp claws held in an attacking pose, as if it might come alive at any moment.

Van Helsing stared at the wolf pelt, his pupils suddenly contracting as if he'd thought of something.

He abruptly lifted his head: "Your master... isn't he Dracula?"

Bar's expression showed just-right surprise: "You know my master?!"

Van Helsing nodded: "I do."

"Is Mr. Dracula here? We have something to give him."

He looked at Bar, his eyes hinting at something profound, as if he'd thought of something.

Bar shook his head: "Sorry, my master has to go to the company to handle affairs today."

"If you want to find him, please come again tomorrow; as for the thing to be handed over, just give it to me to pass along."

He stretched out his hand, indicating Van Helsing to take out the item.

"All right." Van Helsing reached into his pocket.

The bead is in Feiluo's hands; he, well... naturally would take out an Exorcism Silver Instrument to try on Bar!

But, just then.

Suddenly, a flurry of wing-flapping sounds came from outside the window, followed immediately by a piercing scream: "Help!"

Van Helsing's face changed drastically; without hesitation he turned and rushed toward the door.

He burst out the door, and before his eyes——a Vampire was hovering low, its sharp claws tightly gripping a struggling middle-aged woman.

The woman's scream tore through the night sky, especially shrill on the quiet street.

The Vampire, seeing Van Helsing appear, suddenly split its bloody maw wide, letting out a bone-chilling howl.

Then, it challenged in a hoarse voice: "Catch me, she lives; fail to catch, she dies!"

No sooner had the words fallen than the Vampire violently flapped its wings, carrying its prey swiftly toward the distant Zhong Lou.

The woman's scream faded away, leaving only the "whoosh" of wings beating the air echoing in the night sky.

"Damn it!" Van Helsing cursed, then immediately took off in pursuit.

Feiluo and Yu Lin exchanged a glance, then also immediately followed.

The three's footsteps soon vanished into the night.

Bar stood in the center of the hall, the look of surprise on his face gradually fading, replaced by a meaningful smile.

He walked slowly to the window, watching the three's retreating backs gradually disappear from sight, then he withdrew his gaze and murmured to himself:

"Hmph, a bunch of idiots."

"I disagree."

Bar's expression froze; he turned his head, seeing Yu Lin, who had originally chased out together with them, now sitting on the sofa, looking at him, and pointed at his own head:

"My intellect is above yours."