Vampire Castle

"We’re planning to find somewhere with people and spend the night there. Once dawn breaks, we’ll go our separate ways."

Gu Sheng told her the truth. That was indeed what he had planned.

Sonia shook her head. "It’s already rather late. The nearby villages won’t take in outsiders at night. I’m afraid you won’t be able to go there."

"I wonder, Miss, would your family happen to have room for us?"

Gu Sheng’s words made Sonia pause. Ordinary people who went to Vampire Castle were either nobles there to pay taxes or fools looking for trouble. But the man before her could kill Werewolves, so he probably wasn’t an ordinary person after all!

"Um… I’m Sonia, the daughter of Grand Lord Victor. Are you sure you want to come back with me?"

Sonia hesitated before revealing Victor’s name. Victor’s Vampire Castle was extremely famous in the region. It protected the surrounding area from the Werewolf scourge, but also imposed heavy taxes. In this era, it was widely known.

It probably wasn’t known for anything good, though. Travelers who passed through this area had likely heard of it, to some extent.

"Not at all! I also intended to pay Lord Victor a visit this time."

Gu Sheng smiled at Sonia. The prequel to Underworld, Rise of the Lycans, revolved around Vampire Castle. How could he possibly miss such a crucial landmark?

Corvinus, the shared ancestor of the Lycans and vampires, did not appear in this story. Gu Sheng had no idea where he was hiding, but he knew that Corvinus had always been cleaning up after the descendants of Marcus Corvinus and William Corvinus while keeping an eye on the conflict between the two clans.

So rather than wander around outside like a headless fly, he might as well try his luck at Vampire Castle. If he remembered correctly, the vampire scribe Tanis would later have ties to Corvinus. He just didn’t know whether the two had already made contact.

"You really want to go?"

Sonia sought confirmation once more. When ordinary people went to Vampire Castle, they either stayed and became members of it or died. Few could leave alive. Aside from the vampires who specialized in drinking blood, even the Lycan slaves were meat eaters.

"Then I’ll have to trouble you, Miss Sonia."

Gu Sheng smiled and nodded. He could more or less guess Sonia’s concerns. Vampire Castle did have living humans inside, but they were mostly servants belonging to the vampire nobles and warriors. Their actual status was roughly equal to that of the Lycans, though their circumstances were even more dangerous.

Although the Lycans were slaves, their powerful regenerative bodies allowed them to survive even abuse. As for the vampires’ servants, they were servants in name, but spare rations in less flattering terms.

There was no blood-preservation technology in this era. Lycan blood was certainly not something vampires liked, so their food supply could only come from humans. Almost every human living in the castle had puncture wounds on their hands from being bled.

"All right. Once you enter the castle with me, don’t say anything. I’ll arrange everything."

After thinking it over, Sonia nodded. She was a member of the vampire council and the first of the three elders, as well as Grand Lord Victor’s daughter. As long as Victor did not object, ensuring the safety of Gu Sheng and the others would not be difficult.

"Thank you, Miss!"

Gu Sheng smiled and nodded. Then he turned and waved to Liu Daimei on the hill. Liu Daimei saw him and led the sixteen newcomers down the slope toward them.

"Selene!"

Liu Daimei blurted it out when she saw Sonia. The woman before her looked extremely similar to Selene, the future Moon Goddess. In the later timeline of Underworld, she had interacted with Selene quite a few times.

"This is Miss Sonia, the daughter of Lord Victor."

Gu Sheng noticed the questioning look in Sonia’s eyes and smiled as he explained, "This is my wife, Lia. She has a cousin named Selene who looks somewhat like you, Miss Sonia. It’s too dark to see clearly right now, so she probably mistook you for someone else."

"Oh! Miss Lia!"

Sonia did not think much of it. She nodded at Gu Sheng and Liu Daimei, then rode ahead to lead the way.

Victor’s castle stood on a mountain near the sea, at the far end of the forested canyon. Hidden among the dense woods, it would be difficult to find without someone leading the way.

"Open the gates! Miss Sonia has returned."

Gu Sheng followed Sonia to the castle gates. As the guards on the battlements turned the winch, the iron gates slowly rose. Sonia rode inside, while Gu Sheng and Liu Daimei followed with the others. As soon as they entered, a disheveled man with a strange collar around his neck walked over.

"Blacksmith, repair my sword!"

Sonia tossed her silver Cross Sword to the man, her attitude arrogant and contemptuous.

"That’s Lucian!"

Liu Daimei whispered behind Gu Sheng.

"Sonia!"

An old voice called out with concern. An old man who looked like an evil spirit approached with a group of people.

"That’s Grand Lord Victor!"

Liu Daimei whispered into Gu Sheng’s ear, thinking that he did not recognize any of these people.

"Father!"

After dismounting, Sonia handed her reins to a nearby servant. She called out to Victor, then turned away and ignored him. After reaching adulthood, she and Victor had developed serious differences, and neither of them enjoyed being around the other.

Victor walked up to Sonia and tried to speak to his daughter face-to-face. "Where have you been? The council is very concerned about your absence!"

"I had other things to take care of!"

Sonia replied impatiently. She turned away, removed her silver helmet, and held it in her hands.

"Yes. I hope you enjoyed galloping beneath the moonlit sky!"

Victor spoke angrily and stopped trying to talk to his daughter face-to-face.

"I was out patrolling!"

Sonia argued back unhappily. Once she had reached adulthood, her restless heart had become increasingly unable to endure staying in the castle as a noble young lady. That was the source of her disagreement with Victor.

"You’re openly disobeying orders. I told you to stay inside the castle. As your father, I can’t allow you to keep throwing yourself into danger like this."

Victor’s tone was stern. His daughter held a unique place in his heart, and he did not want her galloping about outside like the other warriors, accompanying danger every day.

"Why?"

Sonia turned to face Victor. "The other warriors go out on patrol."

"They aren’t my daughter!"

Victor’s reply was exceptionally firm. "They aren’t members of the council, either. You are. One day, you will inherit my position as an elder.

"Sonia, the council has already been very tolerant of you, but what you’re doing is too dangerous. They’re beginning to grow tired of your willfulness and absences. The dangers in the council chamber are no less than those of patrolling.

"You must learn to be cold and cunning. Learn to manipulate politics. More importantly, you must learn to be loyal to the family and loyal to me.

"After all, without loyalty between us, we would be no different from the beasts in the forest outside."