Chapter 329 - Being Watched

Kopofiel’s complexion changed dramatically, "They’ve come, so soon."This was not a pack of wolves controlled by vampires, but by dog demons, and if nothing went wrong, this would be the first and last thing it did for the refugee camp tonight.

By all rights, this wasn’t something he should be doing himself.

After following the same person for too long, even his own personality had been influenced without him realizing.

Who says only devils can influence people?

People can also influence devils.

This matter mainly depended on who was in the dominant position.

Kopofiel urged his horse to sprint along the main thoroughfare of the refugee camp, shouting as he ran, "Within the count of ten, hide in the closest house to you, lock your doors and windows, plug your ears, get into the basement. After I finish counting to ten, don’t open the door for anyone, including your husband, son, or wife. I’m starting the count now, one, two, three..."

Kopofiel didn’t count particularly fast; by the time he had finished counting to ten, he had already shuttled back and forth through the refugee camp twice.

As the last number was called out, he arrived just in time at the granary, man and horse charging in together, he called out loudly, "Close the door, quick, close the door."

The moment he entered the granary, he first doused his head with holy water to prove his identity.

"Don’t close the door, wait for me, wait for me, I’ll be there in a second, I beg you, don’t close the door, let me in," a voice carried from far behind Kopofiel.

The several young men in the process of closing the door immediately slowed their movements, one unable to resist saying, "It sounds like Mister Leibai, didn’t he go to the church over there?"

"It really does sound like Mister Leibai, could it be that he’s been delayed and couldn’t make it to the church? Should we wait for him?"

"The vampires couldn’t possibly have arrived this quickly, could they?"

Kopofiel, who had jumped down from his warhorse, upon seeing this situation, shouted angrily, "Close the door, hurry up and close it. When I counted to five, there was not a single person on the streets. How could Mister Leibai possibly show up now? If you don’t want to doom us all, close the door quickly."

"But, the voice sounds really like Mister Leibai."

"We can’t just leave Mister Leibai outside at a time like this, to be captured by the vampires, can we?"

The normally obedient young men had a struggle they couldn’t hide on their faces, seeming to feel morally compromised if they were to close the door now.

Cling clang!

The lute’s strings resounded once more, this time with even more generosity and passion, causing listeners’ blood to surge crazily through their veins.

The several young men closing the door had an especially strong reaction, shuddering, and in their exchanged looks, they could not hide their shock. Then, they exploded with unprecedented strength and jointly slammed the granary door shut with a thunderous crash.

The moment the granary door closed, they clearly saw that the moon, which had only risen a short while ago, was now obscured by dark clouds, and a thin layer of mist had risen on the street at some unknown time.

The torches and bonfires by the roadside seemed so frail and weak, as if they might extinguish at any moment.

Under their dim glow, the mist seemed eerie, as if it had a life of its own, twisting and wriggling forward. It appeared to move slowly, but it was actually fast; in the blink of an eye, it was only a few dozen meters away from the granary door.

They heard distinctly, the voice that had made them think of Mister Leibai had come from deep within the mist. The most update n0vels are published on NovᴇlFire(.)nᴇt

Now upon listening again, this voice seemed somewhat like Mister Leibai and somewhat not, seemingly also bearing some resemblance to Mister Carl.

Regardless, even a fool would sense that something was amiss.

"Don’t close the door, don’t leave me behind, the vampires are about to arrive, don’t abandon me, I beg you, I’m your friend, your family..."

The voice outside became more pitiful and more shrill, containing an unhideable panic and despair, as if something was chasing right behind him.

"Open the door, quickly open the door, it will be too late, you can’t do this to me, you can’t do this to me..."

"Hurry up and open the door, hurry..."

Soon, along with the pleading, there was also the sound of violent pounding.

The force pounding on the granary door was so great that the door, large enough for a carriage to pass through, was shaking loudly as if it would collapse at the next moment.

Everyone’s eyes involuntarily fell on the granary door, swaying in unison with it.

But no matter how strong the pounding was, no matter how violently the granary door shook, it just wouldn’t fall down by that sliver of a margin.

The moon elf bard strumming the lute said in a loud voice, "Dear brothers and sisters, there’s no need to worry, you have seen the situation for yourselves. The legend is true, as long as vampires are not invited by the owner, they cannot enter our sanctum. This is a privilege granted by the gods, the protection given to us by the gods. As long as we don’t panic and stay orderly, these vampires cannot touch us."

After saying this, he switched to an elegiac tone unique to poetry, "The night is long, and I trust you all have no desire to sleep. Why not let us perform an opera for you to pass the time?"

"Good!"

"What’s the opera you are going to perform called?"

Had it been any other time, if a bard told these Thacel refugees they were going to perform an opera for them,

they would have been so excited that they might have lifted the roof off the granary.

But in this situation, even the best opera couldn’t capture their attention.

It was only under Kopofiel’s intentional leadership that cheers erupted, they could not let this fear spread uncontrollably.

Under the dominance of extreme fear, many creatures often make extremely abnormal and foolish decisions, such as goats jumping off cliffs and river fish leaping onto the shore.

Some people, in order to plead for a vampire’s mercy, might even actively open their doors to let the vampire in, or go out to surrender.

Don’t think it’s absurd, for people dominated by fear cannot be measured by common sense.

Kopofiel had witnessed such foolish actions more than once.

And the bards had the same thought in mind.

"Heather Leaf at the Window," the Moon Elf bard replied with a smile.

At the mention of the name, Kopofiel’s eyes nearly popped out.

When he had gone outside to seek help, he saw a part of this opera; indeed, it was a deeply moving story, but the problem is, it was also a story about undead creatures, about ghosts.

At a time when vampires are frantically knocking outside, trying to come in and take everyone away.

Is it really okay to perform such a story?

Aren’t you afraid of further arousing the fear in people’s hearts?

But the Moon Elf bard didn’t seem to be seeking Kopofiel’s opinion. They started strumming their instruments and began their performance in the midst of the crowd.

This was a common practice for them, and they didn’t feel the slightest discomfort.

Kopofiel quickly realized that his worries were completely unwarranted.

In terms of evoking emotions, these bards were absolutely experts among experts.

Even a story about a ghost’s revenge was performed by them with compelling attraction, making people’s emotions follow the progression of the story, continuously fluctuating with anger, joy, and intertwining feelings, unknowingly dissipating much of the fear brought by the vampires.

Clearly, there was the use of magic, but the story itself was captivating enough; only the combination of the two could firmly grasp people’s hearts to the point where they didn’t even care about the vampires constantly knocking outside the granary.

Kopofiel was now filled with confidence in making it through the night.

At the very least, the valley and the monastery where the bards were stationed should be fine; he believed that the same scene was playing out in the monastery.

The only concern now was for those who had not been able to enter the monastery or the granary.

It would be very difficult for them to endure such a night alone.

Kopofiel was powerless to help and could only silently pray for them to be lucky.

It wasn’t just the Thacel Refugee Camp that was enveloped in thin fog.

The Yewen Pond, and even the entire Three Rivers Region, was shrouded in a layer of thin mist, especially Weizemay Manor, which had the reputation of being Ghost Manor. The manor appeared even more ghostly in the misty haze, adding an extra touch of eeriness.

"Gulp!"

Three stealthy figures lurking not far from the manor couldn’t help but swallow their saliva and whispered in a voice lower than that of flies and mosquitoes, "Boss, why don’t we just forget it? This manor looks really evil. What if the ghosts inside haven’t been completely cleared out?"

"Not cleared out? Don’t you think about who personally took care of it? Darnell, out of the twelve Just Hammers of the Monastery of the Hammer of Justice, is known as the foremost. Don’t you trust me, or do you not trust the Warhammer in his hand? Has there been a ghost left active in any place he has visited?"

The leader of the shadows snorted coldly, "The old rule of our trade is to never leave empty-handed, no matter what. Tonight, I will go for a stroll in Weizemay Manor and bring out a few bottles of Ghost Grape Wine. Just fill our backpacks, and we won’t have to worry about food and drink for the rest of the year."

"Right, there’s no turning back at the doorstep. We’re not new to this business. Little brother, when did your courage shrink so much? Weren’t you the one who bragged you could sleep on a deserted grave?" echoed the last voice. "Not only will we fill our backpacks, but we’ll also fill our bellies."

The last figure spoke and couldn’t help but gulp down saliva again, not out of fear, but out of craving, "You don’t know how unique that Ghost Grape Wine is, it’s so chilling, I get covered in goosebumps, as if a ghost lady has given me an intimate embrace."

"Are you sick, little brother?" Big brother’s tone involuntarily rose several decibels, "Look at the time and place; why bring up Ghost Grape Wine and ghost ladies?"

"What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that exactly why we came here tonight?" smirked the third, "Little brother, your fearlessness of the past, was it all just an act? In reality, are you scared to death of ghosts?"

"Who’s scared? I’m just saying, it’s unlucky to talk about these things at this time. What if there really are some of these dirty things lingering in the manor?" Little brother quickly retorted.

"You’re not afraid? Prove it to us then; now is the perfect opportunity. You go first, and the boss and I will back you up," daredevil third brother challenged, with a bet-you-won’t-do-it look.

Little brother wriggled like a maggot, muttering, "We’re not here for a bravery test; there’s serious business to attend to. What to do, the boss has the final say."

Seeing his provocation fail, the third brother could only turn to the boss, "Boss, what should we do now?"

"Do I need to teach you? Stick to the old rules, one person keeps watch, two people work together," the boss snorted coldly as he dished out instructions, "This time, little brother stays outside for backup; I’ll go in with third brother."

"Fine." Although they responded at the same time, the tones were clearly different.

Little brother was relieved, while third brother was surprised. Usually, it was he and little brother who acted, with the boss on backup. Why did the boss want to take action himself this time?

The boss didn’t offer an explanation but simply clung to the ground and started crawling toward Weizemay Manor like a maggot, with the third brother quickly following suit.

Although their crawling might seem slow, it was actually quite rapid, on par with an adult’s walking pace.

The black leather clothing they wore was clearly specially made, blending in with the dark and the earth, making it impossible to distinguish them, even upon close scrutiny.

What they wore was not ordinary leather; it was a specially enchanted Magic Item—the Stealth Worm.