Chapter 168 – The black cat saves the beauty

Translator: ChuRen/ YuQiChen

“What kind of person is she?”

The man spoke slowly, leaving Tang Qing slightly puzzled as he tilted his head, his bangs falling on one side of his face, looking at him with round and curious eyes.

The lad’s name was Ike, and gathering courage, he completed a sentence, glancing at Tang Qing before his face suddenly turned red. He hesitantly said, “…so cute.”

Tang Qing was a bit confused and asked, “Is Countess Bathory… really cute?”

Ike seemed to finally emerge from a state of shock, avoiding eye contact with Tang Qing and replied, “I mean, Countess Bathory is very beautiful. Once, a maid serving the Countess fainted for some reason, and the steward asked me and another servant to carry her away.”

“I discreetly stole a glance at the Countess; she is truly the most stunning woman I’ve ever seen. Her skin is as delicate as a white rose, her lips as vibrant as a red rose, captivating anyone’s gaze.”

Finishing his words, he blushed again, stealing a glance at Tang Qing, lowering his head, and barely audible, added, “Of course, as beautiful as the Countess is, she’s not as lovely as Anne.”

Tang Qing didn’t catch the rest of what he said, instead, he asked the question on his mind, “Did you notice how the maid was doing?”

Ike carefully recalled, uncertainly saying, “It’s been too long ago, but I remember the maid had a very pale and sickly complexion, not sure what illness she had.”

“Where did you take her?” Tang Qing continued to inquire.

“We carried her to the basement, to a maid’s resting room.”

Tang Qing nodded in understanding.

In the morning, with the assistance of several other male servants, Tang Qing quickly finished the cleaning task.

Tang Qing bent down, thanking them profusely.

Unexpectedly, the migrant workers here were so willing to lend a hand, truly touching.

“99, are vampires afraid of garlic and stakes?” Tang Qing asked.

【Probably… that’s how it’s commonly portrayed in these Western fantasy worlds.】System 99 looked up the information and responded.

During his break, Tang Qing grabbed a handful of garlic as a weapon and headed to the basement, wanting to investigate the maid’s resting room for any abnormalities as mentioned by Ike.

As Butler Andrew had mentioned, these resting rooms were still under renovation and couldn’t accommodate him temporarily, which led to him being provided with alternative lodging.

The maid’s resting room emitted a musty and humid smell, with walls covered in speckled mould stains and yellow watermarks.

The glass of the decaying wooden window frames was shattered beyond repair, with a few scattered fragments left clinging to the frame. The pale grey light from the overcast sky filtered in through the broken window, blending with the darkness inside the room, casting a murky and obscure atmosphere throughout the space.

The walls, once adorned with exquisite wallpaper, now bore remnants of shattered and tattered pieces clinging to the walls, most having deteriorated into yellowed fragments resembling a paste.

Several wooden benches were haphazardly placed on the floor, some with broken legs, others decaying on one side. The only intact bench held several broken teacups, their insides stained with dried yellow tea residue.

In a small, worn-out vanity mirror with a cracked, web-like surface, distorted and twisted reflections could be seen, hinting at the presence of a few beauty-conscious young girls who had once occupied the room.

They may have shared moments of laughter, quarrels, and play together.

But now, they were nowhere to be found.

Feeling melancholic, Tang Qing took a glance around the maid’s resting room, and as he prepared to leave and casually scanned his surroundings. His gaze fell upon a candle holder on the wall.

“Why is it so clean?”

The candle holder appeared meticulously clean, as if it were regularly polished.

Recalling scenarios from the TV dramas he had watched, Tang Qing thought this kind of situation…

He closed the door, then walked back to the wall, carefully examining the candle holder. Following a dramatic cue from the TV, he reached out, and turned the candle holder clockwise.

No response.

He then turned it counterclockwise.

Slowly, the wall in front of him began to open sideways, revealing a narrow staircase leading down into the darkness.

A hidden passage indeed.

Considering it was still daytime and vampires generally weren’t too active during the day, Tang Qing descended the stairs.

He treaded lightly, almost soundlessly with each step. Despite the poor lighting in the underground passage, his night vision was keen, enabling him to see far ahead.

Even Tang Qing found himself surprised; his stealth abilities seemed nearly supernatural in this moment, akin to those of a cat.

As he ventured further, the pathway gradually widened.

In front of him was a dungeon.

Taking a distant look, he saw mostly young, emaciated individuals, predominantly women, with only a few men among them.

Tang Qing carefully observed; their hands and necks were riddled with bite marks, and some had fresh knife wounds on their wrists, indicating they were frequently cut to release blood from their arteries.

They appeared bloodless, haggard, and frail. Some of the individuals, nearly drained of their blood, had vacant and glazed eyes, seeming to have surrendered, longing for an end to their lives.

A very young girl, with cute twin ponytails, caught Tang Qing’s gaze from a distance.

She stared at Tang Qing blankly, too terrified to utter a word, blinking in confusion.

This little girl, so adorable at an age where she should be lively and carefree, remained silently subdued, as if unable to comprehend the meaning of her existence.

Tang Qing flashed her a smile and gestured encouragingly.

“99, are these people the ones Countess Bathory keeps captive?”

【Yes, host. They were all lured to Castle Csejte¹you all might be wondering why I chose to use Castle Csejte instead of Csejte Castle. I am just used to calling it Castle Csejte in real life. It’s less commonly used, but the name is still used, so I say why not to work as servants, and every week, the Countess selects her favourites among them and locks them in the underground dungeon as blood slaves.】

Tang Qing turned away from the young girl, his eyes filled with compassion.

“I must rescue them.” Tang Qing spoke calmly.

As a modern individual from a normal society, the inability to save these blood slaves would surely haunt Tang Qing as a recurring nightmare, tormenting him over and over.

【Host…】 Initially tempted to dissuade Tang Qing from interference, System 99 reconsidered, seeing Tang Qing’s resolve. 【Host, first study the map of Castle Csejte, then find a way to rescue them.】

Tang Qing nodded. He understood that rash actions would be futile. To confront such inhumane cruelty, he needed to remain calm.

He made a conscious effort to temporarily erase the harrowing scene he witnessed from his mind, steadying his thoughts and cautiously retracing his steps.

Upon closing the door to the resting room, he pondered rescue strategies while making his way back to his quarters. Unexpectedly, at a turn, he collided with a person who emanated an icy chill.

Tang Qing shivered, the chill raising goosebumps on his arms.

The tall, slender figure standing before him was pale, with a deathly white complexion that had never touched the glow of sunlight, devoid of any vitality. A pair of blood-red eyes shimmered with an eerie radiance in the darkness, brimming with hunger and greed.

This was not the body temperature of a human being.

It was a vampire.

This vampire was actually one of Countess Bathory’s many devoted followers, who resided in Castle Csejte and only emerged at night to serve the Countess. Today, however, he had woken up hungry at noon, disoriented, and ventured out during the day to hunt. His powers were not particularly strong, and appearing in daylight meant he could only linger for a short while, needing to quickly find weak prey to replenish his strength.

“When did Countess Bathory hire such an adorable little maid?” The vampire’s eyes lit up with surprise upon seeing Tang Qing’s face.

He playfully lifted Tang Qing’s chin, teasing, “Black eyes and black hair.”

“You know, our kind simply adores black.”

Tang Qing pushed the man away, avoiding his attempts to get too close.

Ha, we humans still find white suspicious. Your deathly paleness is really unsettling.

Though this vampire was of relatively low power, his strength still surpassed that of ordinary humans.

Tang Qing struggled with all his might but couldn’t free himself from the vampire’s grasp. It had only been two days since he arrived in this world, and he wasn’t going to be a vampire’s meal so easily!

As the vampire’s nauseating breath drew closer, Tang Qing grimaced, turning his head away in disgust.

Do vampires not brush their teeth?

Blessed be the Buddha… oh wait, this is a fantasy world.

Tang Qing recited silent prayers in his mind, extracting the garlic he had swiped from the kitchen, clutching it in his hand, ready to shove it into the vampire’s foul mouth.

At that moment, a shadow emerged from somewhere. It had clear, luminous green eyes, sparkling like two shimmering emeralds, exuding a cold sheen in the moonlight against its entirely black fur.

The black cat advanced towards the vampire at a leisurely pace, its eyes filled with a deadly chill, embodying a natural predator.

Though small in size, the cat was full of explosive power, its sharp claws glistening coldly. Its form suddenly stretched out, its fur bristling, revealing a pair of canine teeth gleaming with a faint purple light.

Catching sight of the black cat’s visage, a hint of fear flashed across the vampire’s eyes. Uncertain of the cat’s identity, he had seen the cat accompany Countess Bathory, who treated it with utmost respect.

Moreover, the mysterious aura emanating from the black cat reminded him of the imposing aura of a high-ranking vampire prince.

After a glance at Tang Qing, without hesitation, the vampire abandoned the Eastern maid who had caught his attention moments ago and swiftly disappeared.

Turning back, the black cat cast a haughty gaze at Tang Qing, its green eyes shimmering with arrogance, as if to say: I simply passed by; don’t think I came to rescue you.

Tang Qing, however, missed the cat’s disdainful look, only staring incredulously at the garlic in his hand.

So, garlic truly works like this?

Surely, it couldn’t have been the little kitty that scared him off.

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  you all might be wondering why I chose to use Castle Csejte instead of Csejte Castle. I am just used to calling it Castle Csejte in real life. It’s less commonly used, but the name is still used, so I say why not