Chapter 2135

After sneaking into the Crowley Steam Bathhouse, Xia De and Mr. Bernhardt entered the secret passage again and made their way to the area the black cat's soul had guided them to yesterday. The corpse of the monster they had killed still lay on the ground. After confirming that the ritual left behind before they departed yesterday had not been triggered, they began their final attempt at an investigation in this area, which now seemed to have no more clues.

The two split up. Mr. Bernhardt used his vampire talent to search for hidden bloodstains, while Xia De walked around listening with "Echoes of the Past."

However, too much time had passed since the incident, so his listening did not yield any more effective clues. Instead, Mr. Bernhardt successfully discovered some unusual traces, but they were not bloodstains.

"How is this possible?"

He squatted beside the monster's corpse and used his gloved hands to dissect the heart area. He had already crushed the monster's heart during the fight yesterday, but at this moment, he was still able to use his blood-control talent to extract a drop of blood from the heart. It was not ordinary blood; its crystal-clear appearance was quite miraculous.

"What does this blood mean?"

Xia De, who had gained nothing, asked. Mr. Bernhardt's face had already darkened:

"Vampires usually possess a certain degree of immortality, but this is actually just our extremely strong recovery ability. Among these, the heart and head are fatal areas. The brain goes without saying, while the heart stores the vampire's most fundamental power; this power can usually manifest in the form of blood. I originally just wanted to see what was going on with this mongrel's blood, but I didn't expect to actually refine blood essence."

He did not explain what "blood essence" was:

"The vampire blood used by the 【Dragon Feast Cult】 for human alchemy—I originally thought it was just the blood of any random vampire, but now it seems this blood is even higher-grade than my own. I am a vampire Viscount; the source of this blood not only has a more noble lineage than me but is also stronger in level... This kind of blood cannot be obtained by force, and it is not easy to preserve for a long time. It seems there really is a vampire in this area cooperating with the 【Dragon Feast Cult】—there is a traitor among us!"

"So, although the Church's investigation is not as deep as ours for the time being, their direction was actually correct?"

Xia De asked, and Mr. Bernhardt nodded with an ugly expression:

"That is the case."

He returned the drop of crystal-clear blood to the heart area. Xia De also took this opportunity to see that the hole in the chest where the heart had been seemed to be healing itself. However, the monster was indeed already dead, so Xia De was not worried. Instead, he touched the 【Ring of Longevity】 on his hand, took a deep breath, and restored the dissected corpse to its original state.

Mr. Bernhardt didn't have time to marvel at Xia De's exquisite time magic; he stood up from beside the corpse:

"Someone local is cooperating with those cultists. Does Ptolemy know? Do the local kin I know know? Or perhaps our cult has already intervened behind the scenes... No, that's not right. After the Mibao incident, my Lord issued an oracle to no longer intervene in the affairs of the Chosen at will. But here... Could it be that those kin have been lying to me ever since I arrived here?"

"Perhaps it's just one individual vampire cooperating with the 【Dragon Feast Cult】. I have met your kin in this area—magicians, university professors, nobles—they all have their own peaceful lives; there's no reason they would all want to start a more exciting life."

Xia De said from the side, but the expression on his face was not good. The appearance of a powerful foreign Ring Mage familiar with the local area meant that the 【Dragon Feast Cult】, which appeared to have just invaded the area, actually knew far more about Moon Bay than they had imagined.

"I will write a letter back to Wilndale now to ask if the cult has intervened in this matter."

Mr. Bernhardt said. The fact that he could be arranged to bring that god-descended vessel to Mibao was enough to show that he was not without status in the cult.

"It is highly likely unrelated to your cult, but will your clan send people to investigate this matter?"

Xia De looked at the monster's corpse on the ground:

"This counts as a desecration of your lineage, right?"

"That is difficult. The differences between clans are larger than you think. Unless it is an oracle from my Lord, clans in different regions do not have such great jurisdiction... This matter cannot end like this. The cult in Wilndale will likely have me investigate this matter clearly... But I trust Ptolemy; this matter should have nothing to do with him. It was he who took the initiative to tell the two of us about the female corpse in the first place... I think I need time."

It was clear that Mr. Bernhardt's mind was in rare disarray. He covered his forehead, took a few deep breaths, and apologized to Xia De:

"I originally thought this matter had nothing to do with my kin and that the investigation was enough, but I didn't expect that now..."

"It's alright, then let's continue the investigation."

"Good. I will write to Wilndale first, and then I will confirm for myself whether Ptolemy has anything to do with this. If he is still trustworthy, Mr. Watson, today is Wednesday; let's meet at the morgue again on Sunday. Ptolemy, as a local, can provide a list of suspicious local targets. When the time comes, we can look for people according to the list. I think we should be able to find out who is so bold."

Armand Bernhardt was not only angry and panicked at this moment but also ashamed in front of Xia De; he probably felt that this discovery had caused him to lose face in front of a friend. But in any case, the new clue meant the investigation was moving forward, and Xia De currently held more than just this clue:

"There is also the vampire beast hatched from that egg. I seem to have encountered it on Sunday night. I think it is necessary to find it. That thing is very good at hiding and is certainly not a wild animal without intelligence. If it knows what happened before it was hatched, it will save us a lot of time."

Mr. Bernhardt was busy confirming things about his own kin, so Xia De would have to seek the witch's help to capture the vampire beast that had gone into hiding and stopped committing crimes due to the Church's increased search efforts recently.

However, when Xia De arrived at the Belindell Manor that morning, it was very unfortunate that the Countess was receiving important guests. Xia De waited for half an hour before seeing her in the study. Yesterday, she had only heard from Xia De the words that the black cat suspected were "fragments of the Poem," so Xia De spoke of the "Sword of Light" mentioned by Miss Dannister and the results of the investigation into the sewer monster just now.

"Sword of Light?"

Unexpectedly, even Miss Galina had only heard the story. The Countess of the Southern Kingdom frowned and actually asked Xia De:

"Are you talking about the Dragon Sword?"

"What?"

"This is an ancient story passed down in the family, which also involves the origin of the seven families of Moon Bay's glory—【In those ancient times, Belindell and six others traveled over mountains and rivers toward the west to escape war and natural disasters. A voice guided them to this coastal land. When the seven looked at the boundless sea, a dragon came from the sky and granted them power and wealth.】"

This is the legend about the initial establishment of the seven families. But there is actually a small part at the end, only it is not as widely circulated as the first part—

【The seven supported each other and planted the first small tree on the land of Moon Bay. Subsequently, people who gathered around them jointly established the first city. But darkness and evil peered at these beautiful souls. When disaster approached again, the seven who stood up again pulled out the precious sword granted by the dragon and defeated evil with the power of justice.】 And that precious sword is the Dragon Sword."

Miss Belindell said, giving Xia De time to think, and added:

"This kind of legend from ancient times, because it is relatively primitive, sounds very much like it was fabricated. And nowadays, even we descendants of the seven great families believe that the second half of the legend was only compiled to enhance the rationality and legitimacy of the seven great families' control over Moon Bay—it is the seven families that have been protecting Moon Bay, so the seven families deserve to enjoy power for generations."

"But there is a problem here. Although 'justice' appears in the story's description, there is no evidence to prove that this sword is the Sword of Light forged by the Ancient God as rumored. And you also said that the name of the sword in the story is not the name I investigated through other channels."

Xia De said, frowned, and then asked:

"But assuming the sword in this story is the sword we are looking for, then who among the seven great families pulled out that sword initially? Or was it a sword pulled out by the seven together? Does it require the seven great families to cooperate as closely as your ancestors did for that sword to appear?"

The witch shook her head:

"I don't know; this is just a legend. If I hadn't been investigating these things recently, I wouldn't even have been able to recall these stories I heard in childhood immediately. Moon Bay is an ancient city; there are too many stories here."

But she was not worried at all:

"If the Sword of Light related to the Chosen ritual is really the Dragon Sword, don't worry, we won't be the only ones investigating. Now that it is clear that the 【Dragon Feast Cult】 is cooperating with some people in the seven great families, they will likely look for similar information as well. I will fully monitor the movements of the seven great families—yes, including other members of the Belindell family. As long as that person is still in contact with the cultists, I will definitely be able to find him out!"

"If you need to do some dishonorable things, you can arrange for me to do them. After all, with your status, it would be very embarrassing if some things were found out."

Xia De said, and the witch smiled:

"Understood, you are truly thoughtful... Don't forget to accompany me to the banquet tomorrow night. Speaking of which, you have been in Moon Bay for so long, but you haven't attended such a large banquet yet. The banquets here are different from those in the North and the Randall Valley. I hope you have a pleasant time."