“Huh?”
Duoluolisi noticed a small notebook by her feet.
She crouched down and picked it up, discovering it was a diary.
She flipped open a page and saw that it was written in human language.
She breathed a sigh of relief—at least it wasn’t in Ancient Blood Clan language, which had made her feel illiterate.
[Month X, Day X Wei Luo came back very late today. Her arm was scratched—three deep, terrifying gashes. Strangely, the wounds weren’t bleeding or scabbing over. I asked her if it hurt, and she said she couldn’t feel anything. I took her to see the village physician, who also found it odd. He said it should just be an ordinary wound and would heal in a few days.]
[Month X, Day X+2 Wei Luo’s wounds still haven’t healed. She says she’s been really thirsty lately—she drinks a lot of water but it doesn’t help, and she complains that water has no taste. On top of that, she’s started hating going outside during the day, saying the sunlight stings her eyes.]
[Month X, Day X+5 Wei Luo seems to have caught some strange disease. Today she suddenly lunged at me and tried to bite my neck. I wanted to take her to town to see the church priest, but she refused to leave the house no matter what. I had no choice but to tell her to wait at home while I went to town to find the priest myself.]
[Month X, Day X+6…]
Seeing this, Duoluolisi had already guessed what would happen next.
Wei Luo must have been discovered by the villagers and locked up.
Her husband brought the priest back only to find his world crumbling, helplessly watching Wei Luo be burned at the stake, and then he succumbed to Demon Corruption, becoming a vampire hell-bent on revenge against the village.
She skipped a few pages, hoping to quickly understand how he later turned into a vampire, but instead she flipped right to the most desperate section.
The writing in the diary had become increasingly distorted.
[Month X, Day X+13 I finally rescued Wei Luo! While no one was watching, I carried her out through the window. My good brother Jack came with two men to help us escape. I told Wei Luo to hold on—if we could just get out of the village, I could find someone to cure her. I heard mages in the city could heal all sorts of illnesses. I wonder if the savings I brought are enough to pay for a mage to treat Wei Luo just once.]
[Month X, Day X+14 Damn Jack! He took Wei Luo away and broke my leg. Why, why? WHY?! So it was you who broke into my house that day! It was you! I’ll kill you! Kill you! @#¥%… ]
The words after that were too twisted to read.
Only faint, repeated scrawls of the word “Die” could be made out.
Duoluolisi fell silent for a moment.
So Jack and the others had betrayed their brother.
No wonder the vampire had targeted them—to take revenge and use their lives to resurrect Wei Luo.
Since they were sacrifices, the vampire probably had them locked up here, right?
Duoluolisi looked toward the wooden board blocking the inner cave.
She walked over to it and reached out to move it, but fearing a trap, she swung her sword and split the board into four pieces.
The wood shattered, revealing a cramped space inside.
Three men were tied to wooden stakes, their heads hanging low.
Duoluolisi checked their conditions with her senses.
The two on the sides had been dead for a long time.
Only the burly man in the middle was still alive.
Strange.
If they were sacrifices, why had the vampire killed the other two?
“Cough… cough…”
Hearing the noise, the burly man raised his head with difficulty.
His eyes were bloodshot, and dried bloodstains clung to the corners of his mouth.
Based on the village chief’s description, Duoluolisi recognized him as Jack.
“Kill me…”
The man’s voice carried a sob.
“Please… kill me now. I don’t want to become a biting monster… I don’t want to be his slave…”
“Where did that man go?”
Duoluolisi asked.
“Kill me…”
“I’m asking you—where did he go?”
“I need blood… give me blood…”
The burly man didn’t answer her question.
He just kept shouting “Kill me,” interspersed with “I need blood.”
It seemed he was about to turn into a vampire.
There was no saving him.
Duoluolisi tightened her grip on the sword and stared coldly at him.
She wanted to leave him here to rot, but what if he fully transformed into a vampire, broke free, and attacked the villagers in the nearby village?
That would be a problem.
She could end him with a single strike, putting him out of his misery.
But remembering what he had done—betraying his brother and sending his brother’s wife to the burning stake—she didn’t want to let him die so easily.
Wait.
Burning at the stake.
Duoluolisi thought of an excellent solution.
Since he had caused Wei Luo to be burned to death, let him taste the same fate.
She raised her hand, and a ball of golden Sacred Flame ignited in her palm.
For a vampire, this fire was countless times more agonizing than ordinary flames.
“You… what are you going to do…”
The burly man seemed to sense something and began to struggle.
“Send you to hell to repent.”
Expressionless, Duoluolisi hurled the Sacred Flame at the burly man.
The fire instantly engulfed his body.
“Aaaaaaah!!!”
Screams echoed through the cave.
Duoluolisi also burned the two corpses.
Watching them turn to ash, she returned to the stone platform and continued studying the diary’s contents.
The middle portion of the diary was filled with scribbles completely illegible.
Some places had even been stabbed through with the pen multiple times.
It was clear the diary’s owner had been furious.
She flipped several more pages until, at a certain point, the handwriting suddenly became readable again—but it was no longer written in ink.
It was blood.
[Month X, I can’t remember which day. Forget it, I won’t bother. I found a book in the cave. I couldn’t understand the words, but I could feel it—it could bring Wei Luo back to me. Blood. I need blood. It told me I need to prepare a lot of blood. I think I can read this book now. It seems to describe some kind of ritual that can use blood to revive the dead. Great, Wei Luo. I’ll find a way to bring you back. I’ve collected a lot of blood, but the book says I still need one more thing. I can’t figure out what it is. It seems like… a living sacrifice? Living. Jack. Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack! I’ll make you pay for Wei Luo’s life!! Two sacrifices died. It failed. Twice it failed. Why? Why?! I understand now. The book says the sacrifices have to meet certain conditions. Those two weren’t worthy. Jack isn’t worthy either. None of them deserve to be sacrifices for reviving Wei Luo. Hahahahahaha! Found it! A sacrifice that is young, unpolluted, and still carries pure Holy Power within them. I’ve finally found it!Wei Luo, wait for me. We’ll be reunited soon! ]
After reading that, Duoluolisi instantly understood.
The words in the book referred to the conditions for the “Blood Soul Transfer” ritual’s sacrifice: it needed a young virgin with extremely high affinity for the Light Element.
Judging by that, the only one who met all three conditions was…
Oh no, Dailina!
Duoluolisi spun around, intending to go back and protect Dailina.
But at that same moment, a Blood Blade grazed her ear, cutting off a few strands of hair, and lodged itself in the gap of the diary.
She had no time to think.
She quickly closed the diary and stuffed it into her chest, fixing her gaze on the cave entrance.
A Blood Eagle was hanging upside down on a withered branch at the entrance, its crimson eyes locked directly onto her.
Without hesitation, Duoluolisi raised her sword and slashed at the Blood Eagle.
Damn it!
Don’t get in my way of saving Dailina!