Chapter 2248: Man of Justice

Seeing that Mrs. Jude was really going to fight him this time, Xia De did not draw his longsword, but greeted the blood mist with his bare hands.

The blood mist itself only had corrosive properties; the real danger came from the amorphous vampire hidden in the blood mist. Her two sharp claws grabbed at Xia De in the blood mist, while Xia De's hands kept reaching deep into the mist to slap her elbows and palms.

The strength of the two was completely on different levels; even the corrosiveness of the blood mist was not enough to hurt Xia De. After two or three exchanges, Xia De knew that Mrs. Jude posed no danger to him.

It was just that the contact between the two only lasted for a few short seconds, because Mr. Bernhardt's voice came clearly from behind the blood mist:

"Praise my Lord—God of Vampires!"

Red light instantly hit the blood mist, and Mrs. Jude was forcibly restored to human form and fell to the ground. But she couldn't care about her embarrassment, and instead turned her head and looked at Mr. Bernhardt behind her in astonishment:

"The old things in Willondale, they gave you this?"

Mr. Bernhardt held a bright red metal holy emblem in his hand. Xia De could feel the power of this divine art item even with his eyes closed.

If facing a non-vampire ring warlock, this holy emblem could be considered a good blood miracle enhancement prop, but when facing a vampire, the power of this holy emblem was much greater.

"The sect provided me with all help except for manpower."

Mr. Bernhardt said, and then warned sternly:

"Do not touch my friend! This is just a warning. Next time you dare to make a move, I guarantee you won't be able to see tomorrow's sun standing up."

The coachman and the maid had been temporarily put into the carriage by him. He and Xia De blocked all possible escape directions for Mrs. Jude one after the other:

"I originally just wanted to ask you about some local matters, but Mrs. Jude, are you hiding other secrets?"

The woman climbed up from the ground, not bothering to tidy her clothes, but showed a mocking expression:

"Why, Viscount, do you want to meddle in other people's business? Or do you want to show Moon Bay the justice of the Willondale people?"

"Justice?"

The vampire viscount asked rhetorically. Xia De had never seen him as angry as he was at this moment:

"Do you know what you are doing? Orphanage? Adopting children? Do you think I've only been out for a day?

Last time you heard about vampires raising human children and establishing blood farms, what was the final outcome for that guy? How did the Orthodox Church treat the local kin after that?"

Xia De believed that if these words were not too sensitive, even though he had already placed a mute spell, this usually gentlemanly vampire viscount would still roar out loud.

"Hmph~"

Mrs. Jude's left hand grabbed her right arm:

"I don't deny what I've done, but I've never harmed any child, and I've tried my best to ensure they grow up healthy, never thinking of turning any of them into blood kin.

I have never sold human blood to the outside world, nor have I invited any kin to go there. I have done right by them. The living environment I provide for those orphans is something they never even dreamed of."

Her fingers, which were unusually slender and painted with red nail polish, pointed at Mr. Bernhardt:

"And the reward I ask for is just to quietly take some snacks without harming them. If this can be called a 'blood farm,' then what are the steam factories built by humans to exploit their own kind? Compared to humans themselves, what I do to their cubs is simply angelic."

She could be considered to have personally admitted what she had done. Xia De suspected that Captain Rudolf took the initiative to mention this matter yesterday just to let Mr. Bernhardt, a fellow kin from outside, eliminate this hidden danger... Xia De thus had a doubt.

"Exploiting humans is of course also a farm, but can you answer me a question?"

Xia De took the initiative to speak. The woman facing Mr. Bernhardt turned to look at him:

"You don't look like our kin."

"I'm probably human. I'm curious, you founded an orphanage and then adopted those children for free. Even if other vampires in the area all believe you are purely out of good intentions, for so many years, has no one ever doubted you?"

Xia De said softly:

"The Viscount and I are both outsiders. We just investigated a little bit and found the problem.

Mrs. Jude, I don't think the two of us have any world-shaking wisdom, nor do I think the local vampires are all fools. So, has this matter been going on because you killed all the insiders, or have the insiders tacitly helped you?"

"Then what do you think is the reason?"

The noblewoman's eyes widened slightly:

"I can't even beat you, why do you think I have the ability to kill others?"

This sentence was indeed correct. Mrs. Jude might have a very noble bloodline within the vampires, but her ring warlock level was at most five rings. Either Xia De or Mr. Bernhardt could easily subdue her.

"So, perhaps the number is not large, but some kin in Moon Bay are actually aware of it?"

Mr. Bernhardt asked rhetorically, then covered his forehead before the other party could answer:

"I originally thought the sect in Willondale was corrupt and terrible enough, but I didn't expect that compared to Moon Bay, the old gentlemen in the royal capital would appear so cautious and humble. Is this world really a world of comparing who is worse?

No, I won't discuss these things with you. But a sentient creature keeping another group of sentient creatures in captivity and treating them as snacks is wrong in itself.

In 693 of the Sixth Era, after the last war between vampires and humans, the 'Vampire Blood Products Ordinance' and 'Blood Secret Pact' signed with the Five Gods Church have been implemented for a thousand years. This ordinance guarantees the continuation of our race. You did something wrong, it's that simple."

The woman laughed:

"Why, Viscount Armand Bernhardt, do you want to be a 'man of justice' and eliminate me now? Then tell me, haven't I done enough for the children? Is the reward I ask for a lot? Bernhardt, if you think what you are doing is right—"

She pointed to her heart:

"I definitely can't beat you, so kill me here. But a year from today, I really hope you can return here to channel my ghost, and then tell me what kind of life those children have had in this year."

She saw Mr. Bernhardt's gloomy face:

"I can save more children, and I have already done so. You have done nothing about it, yet you are here blaming me.

Adults all know that no one is perfect, and mortals will always make mistakes. Why can't you tolerate this small mistake of mine, and then supervise me to keep the status quo without crossing the line?"

Xia De originally thought his friend would take action to teach her a lesson, but Mr. Bernhardt did not do so:

"Is drinking human blood so important to you?"

"Yes."

She looked up slightly:

"After my husband passed away, this is one of the few small hobbies I have left. Now, 'man of justice,' for the sake of your justice and rules, kill me. I admit what I have done, but I will never regret it."

Generally speaking, such words would only force those who were originally unwilling to take action to be forced to take action, but clearly Armand Bernhardt was not an impulsive person.

His nostrils flared, and his emotions were obviously very agitated, but he did not take action until the end:

"I have other things to deal with now. Killing you here will only cause me trouble. You go, but this matter is absolutely not over. When I have time, I will come to find you again. This is not a threat to you, this is a fact."

"I welcome you to visit. If we meet again next time and you can tell me the 'judgment' you have made on me, I will be very happy."

Mrs. Jude said, subconsciously turning to leave, but after glancing at Xia De, she still chose to walk toward Mr. Bernhardt. After all, her carriage was there... Of course, also because she was sure at this moment that her kin would not take action, and as for the handsome young man who claimed to be human, she had not yet been able to see his thoughts.

After waking up the coachman and the maid, the noblewoman left in a hurry. When Xia De put his hands in his pockets and left from the other side of the alley with Mr. Bernhardt, the latter asked somewhat dejectedly:

"Mr. Watson, you say, did I do something wrong?"

"She has nothing to do with the matter I want to investigate, so I have no opinion on you letting her go. If I had an opinion, I would have stopped her just now. As for doing something wrong... I won't comment."

Xia De's tone was very relaxed, but he also understood why his friend was in a heavy mood.

"Then what is the right thing for me to do?"

"Oh, I thought you were going to ask me what justice is. I can't explain that clearly. As for what you should do... I don't know either."

Xia De thought for a while, then asked:

"Viscount, do you want to hear what I would do if only I were here today and discovered the truth about Mrs. Jude?"

"Please tell me."

"I rarely kill people. Yes, don't look at me like that, I really rarely take the initiative to kill people. In my opinion, the so-called freedom being more important than life is nonsense. As for the importance of dignity, that depends on different people's different ideas.

That woman's attitude is very arrogant, but if she really didn't harm the lives of those children, I wouldn't care about this matter. I saw a child living in a trash can with a puppy during my time in Green Lake, and I know how pitiful orphans are in this era.

Honestly, compared to blood loss that doesn't harm life, being hungry and cold is obviously more terrible."

He said this, and left the alley with Mr. Bernhardt and returned to the bustling street:

"But you are not me, Mr. Bernhardt. Our identities are different, so the choices we make will not be the same."

He was referring to his own standpoint as a human; Xia De was not a vampire. ===== CHAPTER 2249 =====