The Secretly Rich Man

Chapter 1757

It wasn't long before the trio arrived at the well.

Pointing at Fane's corpse-that was now lying on the ground-Gerald then said, "Please have a look at this corpse, Old Flint! Something attacked him yesterday before tossing him down the well!"

Upon seeing the corpse, the shocked Ray then shouted in disbelief, "...l-isn't that Fane, Mr. Crawford? We just met him yesterday! How could he die so abruptly?"

Not even bothering to answer Ray's question, Gerald simply kept his gaze on Old Flint.

Old Flint himself simply stared at the corpse, clearly analyzing it. After a short period, he then said, "...This is the work of feral vampires!"

"Feral vampires?" repeated Gerald, surprised by Old Flint's answer.

"Indeed. Only their kind would have such sharp claws that could easily kill. What more, if you pay closer attention, you'll be able to see bite marks on his neck! It can only signify that his blood had been sucked up!" explained Old Flint.

"So, what you're saying is that there are feral vampires in the forests around us? Why weren't we attacked last night instead?" asked Gerald.

Seeing that Gerald was rather doubtful about his claim, Old Flint then replied, "That's because the feral ones are afraid of fire. We had a bonfire burning last night, remember? That's why the feral vampires didn't go after us. My guess is that this Fane person must have gone out in the middle of the night. Seeing that they couldn't target us, the feral vampires must have gone after him instead!"

Old Flint's deduction made sense to Gerald, so he bought his words. To think that all this had been the work of feral vampires!

Whatever the case was, Old Flint then added, "We mustn't linger around for any longer. We have to set off immediately!"

Watching as Old Flint then turned to leave, Gerald took one final glance at Fane's corpse before following Old Flint together with Ray.

Once they were back home, they quickly packed their stuff and silently left the village. After all, if the villagers knew that they were leaving under such short notice, they'd surely attempt to stop Gerald and his party.

Regardless, after walking for a bit, they eventually managed to enter the old forest deep in the mountain...

Now enshrouded by trees, the group remained vigilant as they slowly proceeded.

While walking on, Ray couldn't help but ask, "...What do feral vampires even look like, Mr. Crawford?"

Hearing that, Gerald wasn't too sure how to reply. After all, he had never personally met a feral vampire either. With that, he then turned to look at Old Flint before saying, "Not a clue. Do you know what they look like, Old Flint?"

"Feral vampires have particularly sharp fingernails that can easily tear through human skin, not unlike a predatory animal's claws. They're also reliant on and enjoy drinking blood, so much so that they have a keen sense toward blood!" explained Old Flint.

Now understanding that they required blood to live, Ray then asked, "...If they're as scary as you say, then why are we even looking for them?"

Hearing that, neither Gerald nor Old Flint responded. Only Gerald and the old man were allowed to know the reason for now, and until they arrived at the vampires' territory, the remaining trio wasn't going to get a clear explanation about their mission from either of them.

Until then, the trio simply had to focus on helping Gerald and Old Flint remain vigilant against surprise feral vampire attacks.

Not long after, the group was able to hear rather loud rustling from within the trees. Stopping in their tracks, Gerald and the others immediately heightened their vigilance!

Seconds later, a group of people who were dressed in clothing that made them blend well with their surroundings-rushed out from the trees before quickly surrounding Gerald's party! Chapter 1758

“...Who are these people, Mr. Crawford?" whispered Ray as Gerald shook his head, a deep frown on his face. Quite frankly, he had no idea who they were either.

Following that, a man with a buzz cut stepped forward, staring at Gerald and his group before asking, "Who are you people?"

"Kind sir, we're merely merchants who are here to have some fun!" replied Gerald.

"...Merchants you say? Out here in the middle of nowhere? Who are you trying to fool?" retorted the man as he glared at Gerald. "You're free to choose not to believe us. Regardless, what are you and your men doing all the way out here?" replied Gerald.

"We're here to look for the vampires' territory!" declared the man with the buzz cut, not seeing a reason to lie.

"...Oh? You're here to look for their territory as well?" replied Gerald in surprise. To think that these men had the same goal as he had!

"Hmm? So, you're saying we share a goal?" said the man as he signaled for the rest of his men to lower their weapons.

"Well then, if that's the case, allow me to introduce myself! I go by Lech Zak, and I'm the leader of my team!" said Lech as he stretched his hand out.

Hearing that, Gerald then returned a firm handshake as he replied, "Gerald Crawford!"

Following that, Lech then said, "Didn't expect to bump into other teams looking for the vampires' territory as well!"

Nodding in agreement, Gerald then turned to look at Old Flint who had been standing behind him. Seeing that the old man wasn't showing any response, Gerald was instantly relieved. After all, this meant that Old Flint didn't have too much animosity toward Lech and his subordinates.

With that in mind, Gerald then turned to face Lech before asking, "Do you know where exactly the vampires' territory is located?"

Retrieving a map from his pocket, Lech then spread it out for Gerald to have a look.

"We're currently here, you see, and the vampires' territory is within this mountain. With that in mind, we'll need to dig our way into their territory!" explained Lech.

Hearing that, Gerald could instantly tell how well-prepared Lech and his subordinates were.

Regardless, since both parties were looking for the vampires' territory anyway, they figured that they may as well just work as a team.

With that, after a short rest, the two groups then resumed their journey.

Eventually, they finally arrived at the area where they had planned to start digging.

"This is it, Gerald!" exclaimed Lech as he waved his hand at his team members who were following behind, indicating that they had arrived. Chapter 1759

With that, Lech and his teammates retrieved their shovels along with any relevant equipment—before starting to dig the earth beneath them.

"You guys keep an eye on things while we dig! Let's get our well-deserved rest once we make it to the other side!" said Lech.

Knowing that it wasn't easy to dig out a passageway and that it would be some time before Lech and his men were done, Gerald naturally had no objections.

After nodding in agreement, he then returned to his own party to start keeping watch.

Seeing that Gerald had returned, Ray then asked in a slightly worried tone, "...Do you trust these people, Mr. Crawford...?"

Understanding where Ray was coming from, Gerald then replied, "Don't worry, I can sense that he's a righteous man!"

Upon hearing that, Ray's worries quickly subsided. After all, he trusted Gerald's judgment.

"What about you, Old Flint? What do you think about Lech and his men?" asked Gerald as he turned to look at the old man who was sitting close to them. Throughout their journey, Old Flint had remained strangely quiet...

Regardless, the old man simply replied, "We'll have more help with an additional team. There's safety in numbers!"

Hearing that, Gerald then nodded in agreement...

After two hours, a loud sound could be heard coming from where Lech and the others had been digging. Guessing that Lech and his men had managed to dig out a passageway, Gerald and his party quickly ran toward the sound.

As they had guessed, a giant passageway was now visible for all to see... With how dark it was inside, it was pretty much impossible to tell what was down there...

Regardless, Gerald and his party were just in time to see Lech ordering his men, "You two! Get in there and scout ahead! If you find that anything's amiss, get out immediately!"

"Copy that!" replied the two men as they switched their flashlights on and began walking into the newly formed passageway...

Reappearing minutes later, the two men then reported, "Everything's normal inside! We can go through!"

"Excellent! Still, please be careful, everyone! Don't move around recklessly and always keep a lookout for your team members!" declared Lech.

"Loud and clear!" yelled everyone in response.

"Come, Gerald! Let's head in together!" said Lech as he looked at Gerald.

Hearing that, Gerald nodded slightly before entering the passageway by Lech's side, the rest of Gerald's party following closely behind them.

Once inside, they soon saw all sorts of colorful paintings on either side of the stone walls. From how primitive they looked, one could easily guess that these paintings had been here for ages...

"... Can you discern anything from these paintings, Old Flint?" asked Gerald as he curiously turned to look at the old man.

After looking for a while, Old Flint then replied, "... The pictures describe the history of the vampires' development in ancient times! It very clearly describes the start of their species up till their eventual decline! With that in mind, I can safely say that we've made it into the vampires' territory!"

Chapter 1760

Upon hearing that, Gerald and the others were pleasantly surprised. After going through so much effort, they had finally managed to enter the vampires' territory!

"...However, the fact that those corpses were found dead like that... It can only mean that some vampires are still alive! They're incredibly dangerous opponents, so please be careful, everyone!" added Old Flint.

Vampires in general were an independent race that almost never had contact with people from the outside world. It definitely explained why they resented those from the outside world so much. It was also the reason why they usually attacked any non-vampires on sight.

It certainly didn't help that vampires were naturally fast and could easily kill any number of people they wanted.

"Not to worry, sir! All of us are experts at fighting, so we aren't to be trifled with either! With that in mind, I believe that the vampires won't dare to act all unrestrained on us!" replied Lech in a confident tone. Upon hearing that, Old Flint gave no reply...

Regardless, after about ten minutes of walking, everyone finally made it out of the passageway that spanned at least a few hundred feet. Though they could've made it across much faster had they wanted to, they had taken their time while walking across since all manner of sharp gravel were scattered throughout the area. With that in mind, they were all honestly glad that they had thick-soled shoes on...

Either way, at the end of the passageway lay a gigantic hall... In the middle of the hall, was a wheel of sorts that only served to add to the area's strangeness and mysteriousness...

After looking around, the astonished Ray couldn't help but say, "Color me surprised! To think that such a large palace-like place would exist up here in the mountains!" True enough, this place was much larger than the tomb they had seen in Ghost Country. With that in mind, it appeared that the vampires were extremely powerful...

Whatever the case was, the others then began curiously inspecting their surroundings... Gerald himself—as well as a few others—immediately went for the wheel in the middle of the room... Looking at the wheel, Ray then asked, "Any idea what this wheel symbolizes, Mr. Crawford?"

Before Gerald could even reply, Old Flint explained, "That's the vampires' Wheel of the Sun and Moon! They use it to calculate time!"

"Calculate... time? Why would they require such a big wheel just to calculate time?" asked Ray.

"Oh, they didn't use it to calculate regular time. Instead, the wheel calculates when they need to replenish their blood!" replied Old Flint, instantly causing a chill to run down Ray's spine.

As it turned out, the vampires used this wheel to calculate when exactly they needed to suck fresh blood, and the thought of it alone was honestly spine tingling...

At that moment, one of Lech's team members could be seen stretching out his hand to grab what seemed to be a pearl-that was embedded on one of the stone walls-as he shouted, "Hey captain, there's a pearl here! I'm sure it'll sell for a lot!"

Upon realizing what was happening, Gerald instantly yelled, "Don't pluck it off the wall!"

Unfortunately, Gerald was too late.

The team member had already taken it off the wall, and he was now looking at Gerald in bewilderment, wondering why he was getting so worked up about the pearl in his hand.

Before anyone could react any further, a thunderous sound could suddenly be heard!

Turning to face the source of the sound, everyone's eyes widened in horror when they realized that a massive stone had fallen and completely blocked the palace's entrance!

"Everyone, duck!" shouted Gerald as he instantly pushed Old Flint and the rest of his party members to the ground.

The second his sentence ended, countless arrows began shooting out from the surrounding stone walls!

Sadly, some of Lech's team members weren't quick enough to react, which led to them getting pierced by volleys of arrows! Soon enough, those members flopped to the ground, dead and lying in their own pools of blood...

For those who managed to duck in time, none of them dared to even raise their heads, afraid that arrows would pierce right through their skulls...

Nobody could've anticipated there to be such a death machine in this place...