No Hero V4C2: Yue Gang, the Strongest of the Weakest
(Spoiler warning for people who haven’t read Eclipse Hunter V5. Near the end of this chapter, there is a paragraph that details events related to EHv5’s conclusion. If you wish to skip the spoiler, skip the paragraph that starts with “The young master suddenly became emotional.” The rest of the chapter is safe.)
No Hero Volume 4: The Ancient Vampire Castle
Original novel in Chinese by: 御我(Yu Wo)
The Lost Files of the Ancient Castle Chapter 2: Yue Gang, the Strongest of the Weakest—translated by Raylight (proofread by elisa & Trespa.s.serby; C/E edited by Amgine & lucathia)
The four of us played the game together, only fifty times in total. An Xiang Ye, you alone won thirty-something times. What’s going on? This is only a dice throw and betting on whether it’s big or small. It’s only a matter of luck and doesn’t require any skill.
An Xiang Ye, as expected, you are an alien!
However, not winning even once might be even more formidable than winning thirty times…
Dell-gē, you’re also an alien, right?
I called the ambulance, and afterwards, I tried standing up again. This time, I finally succeeded, but both my legs still felt a little strange. It felt as though I had just run an extremely long distance and was a bit shaky as a result.
“Master Endelis, are you well?”
I turned around and saw that Curtis’s expression still held traces of alarm and doubt. I believed that a smile would be able to calm him down, but I was not able to smile. As such, I could only give up, and I asked him directly, “Are you hurt?”
Curtis shook his head and answered, “I have contacted the family. Madam Sadina is extremely furious right now. She is very worried about you and wishes to speak with you.”
He pa.s.sed over the cell phone, and the moment I received it, an anxious shout came over, “Charles? Cousin?”
I promptly answered, “I am here. Do not worry, Curtis is fine too.”
Over the phone, Sadina let out a sigh of relief. At this moment, I looked about, slightly worried. At first glance, I noticed Dragon Peace was currently moving a large piece of debris from the tower. Dell was also moving about in that area. It seemed like they were looking for survivors. However, I did not see any sign of the young master, and even Melody was gone without a trace. Instead, I saw Briar at Curtis’s side. She was sprawled next to him, looking extremely frightened with tear tracks on her cheeks.
As soon as she spotted me, she jumped into my open arms. As I patted her back, I asked, “Bri, where are the young master and Melody?”
Briar said softly, “Ah Ye-gē and Melody-jiě went over to the plane. They told me not to look…”
I immediately looked toward the plane that had broken into three pieces. However, due to the far distance and the smoke permeating the air, I was unable to see where the young master and Melody were at all. Though sounds of explosions rang out from time to time, I believed that with their abilities, they would probably be fine.
I gently rubbed the back of Briar’s head. One reason was to console her. The other was to bury her face in my chest so as to prevent her from seeing anything unpleasant.
“Cousin?”
I picked up the cell phone and said with some regret, “I am here. Sadina, I am afraid that the prospects for those who were on the plane are grim.”
“That’s not important. It’s okay as long as you are fine. You are the last Elysees. If anything were to happen to you, I really wouldn’t know how to tell your father and my deceased mother.”
Hearing that, I felt a little at a loss as to how to react.
“Also, you absolutely mustn’t go and try to rescue them. The plane crashing was definitely not an accident. It could have been caused by non-humans, and the plane crash might not have been able to kill them. Who knows, they might be waiting in ambush…”
Hearing this, I immediately tossed the cell phone to Curtis. At the same time, I ordered him, “Take care of Briar, and by all means, do not come over!”
Once Curtis took Briar into his arms, I immediately left the place using slide steps. However, using it merely once made my legs so shaky that I nearly fell over. Hence, I could only switch over to running.
On the way, there were scattered parts of the plane everywhere. When I reached the crash site, there was thick smoke filling the air with flames all around. Sounds of explosions still rang out from time to time. I could only shout, “Young Master? Young Master?”
Urgh…
Young Master? I looked in all directions and realized that the sound had most likely come from under a certain piece of debris. I anxiously pushed it away. Indeed, there was someone underneath it, but it was not the young master. This made me heave a sigh of relief, but I still felt a little nervous, for I still did not know if the young master had truly encountered an ambush.
However, I could not just abandon this person. He was someone from the Elysees family, one of my family members.
I carefully turned the man over and then dragged him out from under the debris. However, upon dragging him out of there, I realized that he had received major injuries on his left side. A large part of his left shoulder was sliced off, and his left hand was completely gone. As for his left leg, it was all broken starting from halfway down his thigh.
I felt rather regretful. Though this person was not dead yet, he probably would not live long. I looked at the clothes he was clad in, and though they were filthy and damaged, it was indeed the standard uniform of the Elysees family.
“Traitor…”
I froze and asked in confusion, “What?”
He turned to look at me, his gaze already losing focus. However, he opened his mouth and attempted to get the words out at all costs, “Family… there’s…. a traitor, cannot… let him…”
Suddenly, light footsteps came from behind me. I abruptly turned back, and at the same time, extended my nails.
“Charles?” The young master looked at me with a surprised face. Afterwards, he instead looked past me. “Eh? There’s a survivor… Oh no!”
The young master rushed over and took the person from my arms. He started to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him, but after doing so a few times, he stopped. Looking at the person’s injuries, he sighed and then slowly placed the lifeless body onto the ground.
“Young Master!” I quickly told him Sadina’s speculations in full detail.
The young master however shook his head, saying, “Judging by the landing that the plane made, even non-humans would find it difficult to survive. Even if they did, they would have received major injuries from it, so they wouldn’t be able to pull off an ambush. I went over to the c.o.c.kpit of the plane just now. Even the pilot and co-pilot are dead, and moreover, I can’t find the black box.”
“Black box?” I froze.
“The plane’s conversation log. If I have that, I can roughly guess the reason for the plane crash.”
So that is how it is.
“Young Master!” Melody came running over.
“Are there still survivors?” Though the young master asked this, he did not seem to expect a positive answer.
As expected, Melody shook her head and said, “Only five corpses.”
“Oh. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be that many people on the plane. I only saw ten corpses, and just now Charles also found another…” The young master paused for a moment, and then continued, “Another one who had just pa.s.sed away. That’s right, Charles, did he tell you the cause of the plane crash?”
He said that there is a traitor in the family… This should have nothing to do with the plane crash, right? I hesitated for a moment, and then shook my head.
“Then, there’s no way around it.” The young master nodded his head, saying, “Let’s go. We’ll go and help Dragon Peace. There might still be survivors at the tower… Oh, I guess we don’t have to do that anymore. The ambulance is here.”
We slowly walked back to where the bus was. The entire place was in chaos, and the sounds of the ambulance sirens were blaringly loudly. Moreover, the ambulance showed no signs of leaving. It looked as if the ambulance attendants were currently covering the deceased with white cloths one-by-one, so it looked like there were no survivors at the tower either.
Other than the ambulance, three police cars also arrived on the scene. The police were interrogating Curtis. As for Dragon Peace with his huge stature, he had already vanished without a trace. Dell was holding hands with Briar, standing at one side.
Once the other policemen saw us, they dashed over and even surrounded us. There were about ten fully armed policemen who roared, “Who are you guys?”
“We are with them.” I quickly pointed to Curtis.
A policeman asked extremely disrespectfully, “Where have you guys been?”
“To the plane to see if we could be of any help.”
“To the plane? Don’t you all know that’s dangerous? It’s highly possible that another explosion will occur. You guys probably also damaged the crime scene…”
Under the situation where the policemen seemed like they really wanted to arrest us and throw us directly into jail, I could only take out my phone and dial Yue Gang’s number.
Once the call went through, Yue Gang’s unhappy voice came over, “What? This time, which one of you has gotten into trouble again? Once, it was your little brother being captured by werewolves. Another time, you were mistaken for a vampire. Did you forget to pacify Tai Sui this year? Go to church and say some amens for a bit?”
Tai Sui and the church seem to be from two different religions… Moreover, neither seems suitable for a vampire.
I gave a wry smile as I said, “This time, there are a few more people. Me, my little brother, my fifth sister…”
“I’ll be there immediately!”
After saying so, he hung up the phone. However, my phone’s ring tone sounded almost right after he did so. I picked up the call, and Yue Gang went “hehe” before he said, “I forgot to get the location from you. Your fifth sister… I mean, where are you all right now?”
I reported our current location, feeling a bit helpless. Yue Gang then hung up the phone on me once again. I only hoped that in a bit, Yue Gang would not cling too closely to Melody. If Melody were to become unhappy, I probably would not be able to guarantee his safety.
At this point, one policeman suddenly shrieked, “Eh? Y-You’re the angel, right?”
After that, everyone’s attention fell onto the young master. The young master started to panic and said nervously, “If you are talking about the advertis.e.m.e.nt… Yes, I am the model from ‘The Last Angel.’”
The hostility of the policemen greatly decreased in an instant, and everyone started to size up the young master curiously. Someone even asked, “Then, are you actually a guy or a girl? Right now, you look like a guy, but you really looked like a girl in the poster with the lipstick.”
The young master quickly clarified, “I’m a guy!”
“I told you he’s a guy!” A policewoman told the rest of the policemen proudly, and after saying so, she took out her purse. Then, she took out a stack of small cards from within her purse and pa.s.sionately showed it to the young master. “Look, they’re your photos! I grabbed them off of the net. Could you please sign them?”
“Eh?” The young master seemed somewhat frenetic as he asked, “Sign? W-What am I signing?”
“What are you all doing?”
A roar rang out, and all the policemen froze. Then, they quickly reverted back to their straight-laced expressions, and all of them stood at attention. Following that, a policeman walked over. It was the policeman who had been interrogating Curtis a moment ago.
The policeman coldly surveyed the surroundings, and then asked in a rude tone, “What are you all doing?”
The policewoman forced herself to report, “Captain Xie Wei, it’s just that we suddenly discovered—discovered a celebrity!”
This captain of the police squad called Xie Wei looked even younger than Yue Gang. However, I believe that that should not be the case. It was just that Yue Gang simply did not care for his appearances at all. With his untrimmed sideburns, he looked much older than his actual age of twenty-eight. As for Xie Wei, he had a crew cut except for a slightly longer patch of hair on his left side that was even dyed a light purple. On top of that, he had a cool and composed face. An average youngster nowadays would probably say that he was very cool.
“Captain Xie Wei look, it’s him!” The policewoman pointed at the young master with a bit of excitement.
Xie Wei’s gaze shifted onto the young master, and the young master instantly smiled at him.
“Oh, you’re the fellow from the poster who looks neither like a man nor a woman?” Xie Wei gave a cold laugh and said, “However, the real person looks a lot more like a man than he does in the poster.”
The young master momentarily froze. At this time, Curtis, Dell, and Briar also came over. Once Dell walked to the young master’s side, Briar, who was holding hands with him, immediately jumped into the young master’s arms.
Briar buried herself in the young master’s chest and said softly, “Ah Ye-gē, I saw a dead person. It was so scary.”
The young master was a bit reproachful as he said, “Didn’t I tell you not to look and also not to raise your head?”
Briar seemed to feel truly wronged as she said, “It’s the police-shūshu who wanted me to raise my head. He wanted to ask me questions, but when I was speaking, I accidentally saw when I turned around.”
Hearing that, the young master gave Xie Wei a glare, and then lowered his head to comfort Briar, “Don’t be scared. I’ll protect you!”
I looked toward Xie Wei, feeling a little worried. He did not seem like a good-tempered person and probably would not drop the matter of the young master glaring at him.
As expected, Xie Wei’s face turned dark, but he actually did not act on it. He merely turned and roared at the policemen, “Hurry and go do what needs to be done! Li Wa! You’re responsible for searching them. If they have any fragments of the plane on them, then arrest them all and take them back to the police office!”
Li Wa was the policewoman who had recognized the young master. She answered “yes” in a loud voice, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with joy. Following that, she spent five minutes to search everyone else, but twenty minutes on the young master. Only when Melody said in a sarcastic tone, “Why don’t you just ask him to strip down for you to touch?” was she willing to stop her search.
Afterwards, Yue Gang arrived on the scene, and even had a bit of a conflict with Xie Wei. Yue Gang wanted to take us away, but Xie Wei wanted us to go to the police office and give a statement.
“Give a statement?” Yue Gang frowned and said, “I have never heard of people who saw a plane crash having to give a statement. Though this airport is small, there should be quite a few surveillance cameras. Shouldn’t watching those surveillance videos be enough? As for these people, just questioning them is enough. Did you question them already? If you already did, then I’m taking them with me! In the future, if there’s anything else you want to ask, then look for me. Anyway, these people are my bros and his family, so they’ll come when I call!”
Xie Wei remained silent. Looking at his expression, it seemed like he still did not want to let us go. However, Yue Gang ignored him and started talking to us without asking for permission, “There are so many of you, I can’t fit everyone in my police car. Do you all have your own car? If you do, that would be great. I’ll go with you all in the car, and let my partner drive the police car to clear the way. You guys must have gotten quite the scare, so hurry and go home to rest!”
Under Xie Wei’s hostile gaze, we returned to the bus. However, once we got on, we found Aren sitting inside. Upon discovering that there was someone already there, Yue Gang was also shocked, but he did not mention it and simply yelled to the others to get on quickly.
We sat on the bus, our positions exactly the same from when we first departed. Only this time, we had an extra person, Yue Gang. However, our mood was not relaxed and joyous like before.
“Sigh! Meeting a werewolf, being targeted by the Church, and now even witnessing a plane crash… Your family really is plagued with misfortunes!”
As Yue Gang spoke, he even rubbed the young master’s head vigorously and praised, “However, you don’t seem to be scared at all, Xiǎodì. You’re young but you sure have guts!”
“But Briar was scared.” The young master seemed extremely unhappy as he said, “Those policemen were actually questioning Briar next to a corpse!”
Hearing that, Yue Gang scratched his head and asked, “Are you okay, little girl?”
Though Briar nodded her head, her complexion did not look good. One could tell that she was pretending to be strong.
Yue Gang gave a cold snort and said, “Too bad I don’t know those guys well. If I knew them, I’d definitely give him a good whack on his head! Don’t they know how to do their job? Sheesh!”
“So, there are actually policemen you are not acquainted with?” I smiled as I said, “I thought that all the policemen in Sunset City were your ‘bros.’”
Yue Gang scratched his head and seemed to be having a headache as he said, “Argh! That’s the new squad that the superiors dispatched. I heard that it’s a special squad with strong firepower and incredible skills… However, they don’t know any of the rules at all! A few days ago, they even investigated a store that shouldn’t be messed with and nearly started a large conflict. How troublesome!”
A store that shouldn’t be messed with? Could it be…
“A new police squad?” The young master abruptly asked, “Why did they dispatch a new squad here?”
“Of course it was because of that incident last time at Evening Sun Plaza. The superiors said that the public order at Sunset City was lacking, so they dispatched more police officers here.” As he said this, Yue Gang’s face darkened. He spoke with disdain, “Do you know how they are describing that incident at places outside of Sunset City?”
This was something that I really did not know. In reality, other than the media reporting it in great detail on the day after the incident, nothing else about it seemed to have come up in the news since.
This was very unnatural. Regardless whether or not humans had already developed a faint notion of the existence of non-humans, at least they would still not treat a vampire’s existence as a matter of fact. However, at the Evening Sun Plaza that day, so many various types of non-humans had appeared directly in front of their eyes. This was definitely not minor news that would fade away after a day of reporting.
Slightly curious, the young master asked, “How do they describe it?”
“Two criminal forces clashed in Sunset City, sinking the citizens into so much despair that it caused ma.s.s hysteria, making them believe that a demon has appeared, and the apocalypse is approaching.”
Hearing that, all of our eyes turned wide. Yue Gang continued, “The superiors originally commanded the news of Sunset City to report it as such as well, but no one dared to report that. It’s too ridiculous! The reporter I know was nearly on the verge of tears. He said that if this were to be reported, the citizens would definitely die laughing! Thus, they decided not to report it, and to treat it as if that piece of news never existed.”
“Did the citizens not panic?” I asked quietly, “Regarding those races that should not have existed in the first place…”
“What is there to panic about?” Yue Gang gave me a strange look and said naturally, “Dark Sun is already flying about everywhere! So what if there’s another fellow who’s neither fish nor fowl and can fly?”
Neither fish nor fowl… Is he referring to Mr. Stone? I felt a little helpless, but the young master started laughing.
Yue Gang continued with another example, “Dragon Peace has also been running around since five years ago! Werewolves are even smaller than him. They just have a bit more fur!”
Aren showed a faint smile, and then turned to look out of the window.
“You want the citizens of our Sunset City to panic?” Yue Gang gave a “hmph,” and said proudly, “It really would take the apocalypse to make that happen!”
I said sincerely, “My sincere apologies, I have truly underestimated the residents of Sunset City.”
Yue Gang rolled his eyes at me and said unhappily, “You say it as if you don’t live here! Speaking of which, you and your family are the ones who are really daring! It feels like any crazy mishap could befall you! Listen to me and you can’t go wrong! These days—“
“Stay at home and shut the front door. If anything happens, give you a call, and keep it brief.” I continued his words for him and felt a little helpless as I said, “Yue Gang, if I followed your instructions, I probably would not be able to step out of the house for the rest of my life.”
Yue Gang rubbed his nose, but justified himself, “It’s not my fault. Who asked you to look like a useless weakling? Non-humans aside, I think even women can defeat you! If you don’t stay at home obediently and lock the doors, then I’ll have to come over and save you day and night. That’s really troublesome!”
“You really do understand him!” Melody praised Yue Gang.
The young master, Briar, and Dell broke into laughter together. I could only smile wryly at this.
Yue Gang looked out of the bus window and said, “We’re finally back in the city. I’ll continue to patrol with my comrades. You guys should go back home directly! Don’t create trouble for me again!”
Why did he have to look at me while saying that last statement? I have never created trouble before.
Dell patted my shoulder, feigning sincerity as he said, “Èrgē, you must be obedient, and don’t create trouble! You must set a good example for your dìdi and mèimei!”
“Precisely!” Yue Gang even nodded his head.
The young master was laughing so hard he fell down into Briar’s lap, twitching non-stop.
After both the bus and the police car stopped at the curb, Yue Gang got off. I notified the young master, and then followed Yue Gang out the vehicle.
I called out to Yue Gang to get him to stop, and then asked him tactfully, “Have you had enough money for food recently? It looks like the gun at your waist is a new one again…”
“I’m not the one who bought it. The senior officer distributed it to all of us. It’s loaded with silver bullets. He said that this is very effective against vampires and werewolves, so he gave one to everyone in the squad.”
That explained the matter. However, this was an unnecessary course of action. An energy gun was in no way inferior to silver bullets.
“However…” Yue Gang dug out a metal box from his possession. Upon opening it, there were metal capsules the size of thumbs inside. He chuckled, and then said, “The latest gadget, energy bombs. They operate like hand grenades, but are a lot more useful! Even vampires would be bombed to smithereens with this gadget!”
“… They are not cheap, right?” On top of that, couldn’t you use in your examples a non-human that is not a vampire?
Yue Gang gave a dry laugh, and then placed his arm around my shoulder. He said in a small voice, “Can I borrow five thousand yuan to pull myself through the month?”
I dug out my wallet, and as I took out the money, I told him, “I have already told you before, if you do not have enough money, you can ask and borrow from me. Anyway, you have always returned the money when you receive your salary, so it is fine. Why did you not ask proactively this time?”
Yue Gang rolled his eyes at me, saying, “Your fifth sister is on the bus. How could I have the nerve to ask you for money?”
That explains it. I gave him a pile of notes that added up to exactly ten thousand. Yue Gang was like that; if he said he wanted to borrow five thousand, then he would usually need ten thousand in order to actually be able to eat well.
Yue Gang was not the least bit shy about taking the money. He opened the door of the police car, but turned around again. He told me, “You really should go out less often as of late. That fellow Xie Wei doesn’t know the rules, barging around everywhere like a bull. He caused quite a few incidents, but my senior officer can’t control him because the people backing him are too powerful.”
I felt a little like asking which store Xie Wei had gone to, the one that should not be messed with, but I was unable to do so. After all, stores that should not be messed with are usually not places that a normal person would know of.
The policeman seated in the driver’s seat of the police car stuck out his head and shouted, “Charles, help me tell the angel that the latest fashion commercial was simply breathtakingly beautiful! Putting aside how crazy my wife is over him, even I as a big man am about to fall in love with him!”
Before I could reply, the young master stuck his head out from the bus window. He seemed a bit embarra.s.sed as he said, “Thank you!”
“Oh oh oh! Angel!”
“Let’s go!” Yue Gang sat in the car and said unhappily to his coworker, “Or do you want me to make a call right now to inform your wife that because the angel said ‘thank you’ to you, you’re intending to divorce her and go chase after the angel?”
“Then, my wife would probably tell me to scram, because the angel is hers…”
I smiled while watching the police car drive off and then turned around. Just when I was about to step back onto the bus, the young master abruptly said, “Charles, I’m hungry. Can we eat before going home?”
I looked in the direction of the young master’s line of sight, and realized that the bus was coincidentally parked in front of a barbeque shop. This barbeque shop was not foreign to us either. It was the shop where they sold a plate of meat for a hundred yuan, and the young master had once finished five thousand yuan’s worth of food here.
I quickly agreed, “Of course.” At the same time, I inwardly blamed myself for my negligence. It was currently already past noon, and I had actually forgotten to make arrangements for lunch. If my honorable father were to know of this, he would definitely make me return to go through another ten years of butler education.
Everyone got off the bus with a cheer. Curtis walked over to me anxiously, immediately bowed in apology, and said, “My utmost apologies, Master Endelis. I had forgotten to make arrangements for lunch.”
“It is fine. I had forgotten about it, too. Go to the counter first and request for the shop to arrange for seats that are located closer toward the corner, and then arrange for them to bring one of each item on the menu. As for all the various meats, ask them to first bring three servings of each type.”
“Understood.”
Once we sat at the table, everyone looked like they were famished. They even cleanly finished the appetizers that the shop served first. Curtis and I were responsible for grilling the meat non-stop. Though our speed of grilling the meat was already very fast, the speed at which the meat vanished was even faster.
Both the young master’s food portions as well as his eating speed were shocking. As for Aren, though he looked thin and small, he had an appet.i.te that did not match his size at all. Because of the two aforementioned people, it looked like Dell was not eating much. However, the truth was that he was also a glutton… compared to normal humans, that is.
Instantly after the store served all of the items on the menu, I was forced to order a second round of food. This time, the boss even seemed a little nervous as he asked for us to settle half of the bill first.
I had just come back from footing the bill when I saw the young master put down his cutlery. He said, “Charles, Curtis, the two of you should be hungry too, right? Go and eat first. I’ll take over and grill the meat!” After finishing his words, he extended a hand to try and take the tongs away from Curtis.
Curtis was stunned, but held the tongs away. At the same time, he sternly voiced out, “Young Master An, serving you is a butler’s duty. It definitely does not make any sense to let you grill the meat personally.”
“I can grill and eat at the same time! Anyways, we’re not in a rush for time, so let’s eat slowly!”
Young Master, although what you said is true, the words “eat slowly” coming from your mouth are not convincing at all.
The young master said naturally, “Moreover, the last time I came over with Ezart to eat, it was the two of us who grilled the meat while eating. Charles was sitting off to the side, drinking blood!”
Curtis looked at me hesitantly, and I nodded to him. Only then was he willing to pa.s.s the tongs in his hands to the young master. At the same time, he said, “Understood, then I will be troubling you.”
Curtis was right. As a butler, one definitely could not let the master grill the meat personally while one sits on the sidelines, eating. However, as my honorable father had said over and over, the rules are dead while the master is alive.
The young master really enjoys grilling the meat himself while conversing with Ezart, so I should not spoil his fun.
As the young master turned over the meat, he said, “Speaking of Ezart, when is he going to come back? After he stopped fighting in free-for-all combats, he’s nowhere to be seen. The second to last time he called, he said he was going hiking, and the last time he said he was going skiing… Afterwards, he went missing for several months and couldn’t even be contacted via his cell phone.”
Young Master, it is not hiking, it is rock climbing. Also, it is not skiing, but a polar expedition. However, Ezart did indeed say hiking and skiing.
I quickly said, “Young Master, the World Geographic magazine is about to be published. I believe you will be able to see a photo of Ezart in it.”
Ever since he quit fighting in combat rings, Ezart had been scouted as a member of the expedition team by the people of World Geographic. The job specialized in exploring dangerous parts all over the world. Regarding this new job, Ezart seemed to enjoy it very much and still had yet to come back to Sunset City.
The young master nodded his head and said, “Yeah! I don’t know if he will send me a souvenir. Last time, he said he was going to send me a rock, but in the end he forgot about it. This time, he said that he was going to send me a very ugly bug. If he forgets again, I’ll…”
The young master tilted his head to one side while pondering, and then ruthlessly said, “The next time he comes back, I won’t introduce Aren to him!”
I could not help but smile. Ezart had always wanted to meet Dragon Peace. As for his reason, of course it was to challenge him to a fight.
Aren froze for a moment and seemed puzzled as he looked at the young master. He then asked, “Who is Ezart?”
“My cla.s.smate from high school.” After the young master finished replying, he looked at Aren. He seemed a little worried as he said, “I don’t know if you will like Ezart! Every time Charles hears that we are going to eat midnight snacks with Ezart, his brows crease. That’s because Ezart is very fond of fighting. Every time he sees Charles, he challenges him to a fight. However, Charles has yet to accept the challenge even once. Therefore, Ezart keeps bullying Charles, saying that he wants to make him angry so that Charles will fight him.”
Briar was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curiosity as she asked, “Then, did Charles-gē really get angry?”
“No.” The young master giggled as he said, “As for the things that Ezart did, even I wouldn’t get angry, let alone Charles!”
“What did he do?” Aren suddenly asked.
“Many things! Like whacking Charles’s head for the entire night, and purposely spilling cola, soy sauce, and chili sauce onto his pants. Also, he said not to waste food and forced him to finish charred meat. He even said that blood must not taste good, so in order to help him season it, he added a pile of seasoning into a blood bag…”
Dell muttered, “Even so, he didn’t get angry? If it were me, I would have killed him!”
Once Dell finished his statement, Aren immediately nodded his head in agreement.
“Ah! You can’t! Aren, you can’t kill Ezart!” The young master said worriedly, “Promise me that, okay?”
Aren looked at the young master and nodded his head with an “okay.”
Receiving the confirmation so easily seemed to have shocked the young master. However, he showed a smile and seemed to be very happy.
Seeing that, I smiled too. I picked up the thermos flask, wanting to refill the young master’s gla.s.s of milk. However, the gla.s.s was only halfway filled when I realized that there was no more milk.
“Young Master, I will go and buy some more milk from a convenience store nearby.”
The young master nodded at me.
I stood up, and Curtis immediately stood up too. I smiled at him and said, “Sit and accompany the young master during his meal.”
“Understood.” He obediently sat down again.
I took out three family-sized containers of milk from the refrigerated shelves. The young master cannot drink that much, but both Briar and Aren like drinking milk tea. Milk tea brewed using authentic fresh milk would be better for their health.
I should also buy some black tea while I am here. Although the barbeque shop provides black tea free of charge, the quality of the tea is as one might imagine—
“Young Master Charles, when are you going back to see Countess Avexila?”
The grocery basket in my hands fell to the ground. I turned around and saw a woman dressed in an oriental style.
“Gong Feng Xiang…”
She showed a helpless smile as she apologized, “I am terribly sorry, Young Master. I left without saying goodbye. But the Elysees family wanted me to leave immediately and to never step within ten kilometers of the apartment, so I really had no choice! But I did not think that I could actually meet you here. This is simply great!”
Though she said thusly, I did not believe that this was a mere coincidence. It was currently daytime, and a normal vampire definitely would not appear out on the streets at this time, especially not in the convenience store.
“When do you intend to go back to visit Madam Avexila?”
Why does Madam Avexila want to see me so much? What exactly are her intentions? I looked at Gong Feng Xiang and rejected her directly for the first time, “I will not go back.”
Gong Feng Xiang froze, and then she stopped smiling and said with a somewhat upset tone, “Madam really misses you. Perhaps she has really erred before, but she is truly remorseful right now. She also wishes to see you—”
“Surely you do not truly think that I would believe such words?”
I interrupted her and continued in slight anger, “Please, do not say such things anymore! Both you and I know that this is not the case. I do not understand why Madam Avexila suddenly wants to see me, but this has nothing to do with missing me. She definitely would not miss me… Unless, she wishes to make use of me to accomplish something?”
Gong Feng Xiang shouted agitatedly, “Young Master Charles, how could you say so? Madam is your mother!”
“She is not!” I tried my best to keep calm and said, “I only have a father. She is not my mother. She is merely the vampire who gave birth to me.”
After hearing my words, Gong Feng Xiang went from a state of agitation back to being calm. I could not tell what she felt toward my rejection. She merely seemed a little regretful as she said, “Then, no matter what, you will not return to the Endelis clan of your own will?”
I coldly replied, “My surname may be Endelis, but I am a member of the Elysees family. If it is about returning, the only place I should return to is the Elysees family.”
“A member of the Elysees family?” Gong Feng Xiang laughed and continued chuckling as she said, “Young Master Charles! You’re a vampire, a pureborn vampire. Do you think that humans would really accept you? Look at that cashier. He’s so frightened of you that he hid under the counter.”
Not even addressing me formally anymore? Perhaps it is time to show my cards… Although I did not want to listen to her, I still saw the cashier of the convenience store hiding behind the counter. Occasionally, he would pop out half of his head to sneak looks at Gong Feng Xiang and me.
Even though only half of his face showed, I could still see his panic and fear. When I glanced over, he had actually sunk entirely under the counter, not daring to even peek.
It might be better this way. If Gong Feng Xiang and I were to start fighting, he would not be injured by accident.
“Charles!”
Gong Feng Xiang and I both froze and turned to look at the source of the voice. Then, I realized that the young master was currently standing at the entrance of the store. Although he called my name, he kept a steely gaze on Gong Feng Xiang. His expression was grave, as though he were sending a warning to her.
“Long time no see, Young Master An.” Gong Feng Xiang ignored his warning, and even greeted him with a smile.
The young master tilted his head to one side and replied, “Yeah! Long time no see. Are you looking for Charles?”
Gong Feng Xiang smiled sweetly as she said, “Yes indeed. Could I borrow Young Master Charles for ten minutes?”
“No way!” The young master refused her flatly, and even said unhappily, “He’s going to help me grill meat! Charles, you’re taking so long to buy the milk! I’m about to starve to death. Hurry and take the items to the checkout, then come back and help me grill meat!”
I was stunned, but replied, “Understood, Young Master.”
I quickly picked up my grocery basket and went to pay at the checkout counter. Only when I had reached the counter did I recall that the cashier had already heard Gong Feng Xiang’s words and knew that I was a vampire. Moreover, he is currently hiding behind the counter out of fear, so how am I to pay?
I felt somewhat at a loss as to what to do. Perhaps I can place cash payment on the counter directly, and then leave with my items?
Opening my wallet, I realized that I had given all cash on hand to Yue Gang, and could only pay by credit card. Now what should I do?
Half of the cashier’s head suddenly appeared, and he asked in a panic, “C-checking out?”
I received a shock, but promptly replied, “Indeed.”
He hesitated for a moment and stood up with a pale face, scanning the barcode of all the items one by one. “Your total is one thousand two hundred fifty two yuan. May I ask if you are paying by c-credit card or cash?”
“Credit card. Also, please help me enter the tax ID. The number is 7653…”
The cashier froze for a moment, before he then said, “Sure.”
I signed and the cashier handed over the receipt to me. But when I took it, I realized that something was missing, so I quickly asked, “There are no point stickers?”
The cashier’s expression turned extremely strange and he asked, “… You’re collecting them?”
“Yes.” I took out my point’s card and gave it to the cashier, saying, “It just happened to be filled up now, so I will trade it in directly!”
The cashier received the point card sluggishly, and then took out a small box from under the counter and pa.s.sed it to me.
The young master moved over and asked curiously, “Charles, what is this?”
I pa.s.sed the box over to him and explained at the same time, “This is the convenience store’s point-gathering event. When you spend five hundred yuan, you can get one point. Once you get five points, you can draw a hero figurine. I already have two Solitary b.u.t.terfly, four Dragon Peace, and three First Wind figurines. However, I still have not been able to get Dark Sun. It would be nice if I could get him this time.”
The young master opened the box and gave an “ah.” Then, he took out a three heads tall chibi giant with a threatening pose, saying, “It’s Dragon Peace.”
“Ah…”
The cashier abruptly interrupted, “I heard that when they were delivering those, they accidentally sent all the Dark Suns to the stores in the southern district.”
“That explains the matter. I understand. I will go shopping in the south next time.” I said with a smile, “Thank you for telling me.”
The cashier seemed a little embarra.s.sed as he said, “Y-You’re welcome!”
The young master and I stepped out of the convenience store. Behind us, we could hear the cashier’s excited shouts, “Xiao Hong, let me tell you something. It turns out, even vampires collect point stickers! What? I’m not crazy! Let me tell you, just now a vampire came to buy stuff… Male, he’s male… Was he handsome? Devastatingly handsome, I tell you! Hahaha! Envious?”
Stepping out of the convenience store, I found it rather laughable. Yue Gang was right. It would probably truly take the apocalypse to make the residents of Sunset city panic. I wonder what kind of expression Gong Feng Xiang would make after hearing what the cashier said.
“Charles,” the young master called.
“Yes, Young Master.”
The young master stopped in his tracks and looked at me, a little hesitant. He said, “You really aren’t going back to see your mother?”
I replied with a smile, “Indeed so. I believe that such a thing is not necessary. Madam Avexila is not a mother who would miss her child.”
However, the young master did not continue walking toward the barbeque store. He hesitated for a moment and asked softly, “Charles, I have always found it very strange. Why do you always say ‘Madam Avexila?’ She is your mother, right? But it seems like you’re talking about a stranger…”
“Young Master, I was raised by my father. I only met Madam Avexila when I was over a hundred years old already. To me, she is indeed a stranger.”
“Then, you really won’t go and meet your mother?” The young master said quietly, “Gong Feng Xiang said that she is very remorseful and wants to meet you… What if it’s true?”
I shook my head with a smile and replied, “I do not believe so. Madam Avexila will not feel remorse…”
“Charles, mothers can make mistakes, too!”
The young master suddenly became emotional as he said, “My mother also made a mistake. She wanted to make use of me to take revenge against my father. B-but she really was remorseful! In the end, she didn’t abandon me, and wanted to escape with me still in her womb… but that failed. You can’t blame her for it! S-She really tried her best…”
I grabbed hold of the young master’s shoulder and softly called, “Young Master.” Only then did he break out of his emotional state. He looked at me, not knowing what to do. I gave a faint smile as I said, “It seems like I have never heard you talk about your mother. So you love her this much.”
The young master instead showed a troubled expression. He said, “Actually, I haven’t met my mother before. She died while giving birth to me. However, what she wrote in the letter she left behind was a series of apologies… I really want to tell her that I don’t blame her, b-but… Charles, if your mother is truly remorseful, you should forgive her, okay?”
The young master raised his head and looked at me, as though he was waiting expectantly.
I only need to agree. The young master would not know whether I truly forgave her or not.
“Young Master, your mother is not my mother. Some things can never be forgiven.” After saying so, I abruptly realized what I was saying. I actually told him the truth? What is going on?
The young master looked a little disappointed. As he walked, he softly said, “No matter what she did, she is still your mother. You can’t avoid seeing her forever, can you?”
That is indeed what I am hoping to do.