Chapter 165: Ancient Castle Visit 2

Chapter 165: Ancient Castle Visit 2

Several people sat down at the long table and frowned as they looked at what was laid out on the mahogany dining table.

Blood-red thick soup with strange dark particles floating in it; the bread was purple-black; the piece of meat on the plate was very dark in color, giving off an indescribable smell.

Emily looked down, studying the bowl of soup for a while, then lowered her voice, "Sophia, is this edible? Do we have to eat it?"

"Should be fine, I guess." Victoria picked up the bread and squeezed it, "It's just that the food looks kind of gross."

Thalia's expression remained unchanged as she directly took a bite, chewed it, and nodded, "Not bad."

Sophia stared at Thalia, her eyebrows twitching, thinking she was remarkably brave.

The castle lord sat at the head of the long table with only a glass of deep red wine in front of him. He raised his glass, took a sip, his gaze settling on Sophia, and spoke, "Why aren't you eating?"

"Not very hungry yet." Sophia smiled politely and only drank some water from the side.

The others didn't speak either, just taking small, tentative tastes. The flavor wasn't much different from normal food, just that the appearance was poor and really killed the appetite.

And so, the dinner portion ended somewhat decently.

Next, the lord stood up and led everyone to their assigned rooms to rest. The candlelight in the corridor stretched their shadows long and thin, footsteps echoing on the stone floor. Occasionally, wind would blow through from deep within the castle, tilting the candle flames for a moment before they quickly recovered.

Sophia's room was very small—a wooden bed with dark red sheets, a narrow window, pitch black.

She lay on the bed, staring at the stone ceiling overhead, thinking about how the plot should unfold, fully immersed in the experience.

The corridor outside gradually quieted down. She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes.

After about five minutes, she heard movement.

Extremely light footsteps, traveling close to the ground.

Sophia felt the room's door open without making a sound.

She remained completely still, continuing to keep her eyes closed, controlling her breathing, feeling that presence getting closer and closer.

A familiar scent reached her, and her heartbeat quickened uncontrollably.

That person leaned down, very close. She could feel the breath they exhaled, warm and restrained, falling near her neck.

The man continued to lean in, preparing to complete the "vampire bite" scene.

Sophia's mind raced. Her sense of smell was sharp, and she was too familiar with Alexander's scent. The man in the dark brown mask before her was very likely him.

She unconsciously clenched her hands, anxious inside: Someone come quickly!

Just then, a sharp voice rang out.

"Stop!"

Thalia rushed in, drew her prop sword, and lunged directly at the black-cloaked figure with clean, efficient movements that didn't seem like following a script at all.

The lord reacted extremely fast, dodging to the side and blocking with his hand. The two began fighting in that small room, advancing and retreating. Thalia attacked fiercely, while he defended steadily, only occasionally counterattacking to force her back a step, which she immediately followed up on, giving no breathing room.

In the cramped space of the small room, the clashing sounds of prop weapons were particularly clear in the silent castle. The two moved extremely fast, the wind they stirred making the candles on the walls flicker violently, their shadows dancing wildly on the stone walls, pulling the tense, oppressive atmosphere to its peak.

At this point, Thalia broke away from the lord with a fierce attack, glanced at Sophia, saw she was awake, and signaled with her eyes: Get out of here!

Sophia quickly rolled off the bed. Thalia grabbed her wrist and they ran outside.

The two ran all the way to the main entrance of the castle. Thalia pushed Sophia forward, "Go, get out."

"What about you?" Sophia didn't move, looking back at her.

Thalia lifted her chin, gripping the prop sword, and smiled, "I'm a hunter. I came here to deal with this vampire. You go quickly, don't worry about me."

Sophia felt something odd about hearing Thalia say this, but she continued acting, nodding seriously, "Okay, thank you, take care."

She turned around and pushed the door, but it wouldn't budge.

She pushed again, still completely immovable.

"What's going on."

As soon as she spoke, footsteps came from deep in the corridor. The vampire lord had already caught up, his mask reflecting light in the candlelight, his black cloak spreading out behind him, full of oppressive presence.

"You can't escape."

"Well, I'd like to try."

Thalia smiled, drew her sword, and positioned herself in front of Sophia, taking a deep breath, about to strike.

Another figure suddenly appeared from a side corridor.

The silver-masked man stopped in front of them, using a cross to block the vampire's approach, turning to the side and lowering his voice, "Quickly, go to the secret room."

Sophia froze for a second, "Secret room?"

Thalia had already grabbed her wrist, pulling her to the side, "This way, run!"

The secret room was much more spacious than the corridor outside, with stone walls on all sides. In the center was a pedestal carved with patterns, and on the pedestal was a row of symbols that seemed to require some input to activate.

Sophia and Thalia rushed in to find Victoria and Emily already inside, the two studying the pedestal.

Seeing it was them running in, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"How are you here?" Sophia caught her breath and asked.

"We were bored and wandered around after leaving our rooms. We accidentally pushed open a door. A mechanism activated and we ended up in here." Emily explained, pointing at the strange symbols on the pedestal, "It says in here that we've been cursed. We need to find the correct command to input to break the curse so we can leave, but we don't know what the command is or where to find it."

"Besides, what it says here might not even be true." Victoria sat properly, her voice elegant, making Sophia smile.

"That's not necessarily so—this lord is a vampire." Thalia said coldly.

Victoria's eyes widened slightly, then quickly returned to normal. She opened her mouth slightly, about to speak, when Sophia coughed and asked first, "Would this be useful?"

She pulled out the prop map, unfolded it, and placed it in front of them.

Emily's eyes lit up immediately. She leaned over, tracing her finger on the map, found a marking, looked over at the pedestal, and nodded vigorously, "Yes, that's it!"

The four of them gathered around the pedestal. Emily, following the map, found the symbols one by one and input them.

Fighting sounds came from behind. The secret room door wouldn't close, and the battle in the corridor continued.

Thalia stood at the door, listened for a while, frowned, turned back and said, "You be careful, I'm going to help."

Before anyone could react, she had already run out.

Through the half-open door of the secret room, in the corridor, three people were fighting. The silver-masked man was injured, and the vampire was gradually gaining the upper hand.

He laughed coldly, swatted Thalia away, attacked her mercilessly, and after forcing her to the other side, bypassed her and moved toward the secret room.

Emily was inputting the last few symbols, her forehead beading with nervous sweat.

"I'll do it." Sophia stepped away from the pedestal and positioned herself in front of Emily and Victoria, meeting those eyes behind the mask, standing firm.