The Year's Most Touching Family Drama

Du Mu was about to speak, but a muffled groan from Blade came through the communicator.

Immediately after, an unfamiliar voice crackled through the device: "Hey, you must be the vampire hunter, right? I heard you've been running around with the Daywalker looking for me?"

Du Mu raised an eyebrow: "Deacon Frost?"

"That's right, it's me."

Frost admitted it readily: "To be honest, I'm quite interested in you. A mere human capable of killing so many vampires—I can give you a chance to join us and become part of the great vampire race!"

Du Mu chuckled: "I'll have to think about that. How about this: I'll come find you now, and we can sit down and have a long chat."

"Hmph!"

Frost let out a cold snort, his voice turning icy: "Since you don't cherish this opportunity, then just wait! The age of the vampire is about to descend. After tonight, all humans will be our slaves!"

After delivering this standard villainous monologue, Frost cut the connection.

Du Mu glanced at the map, where the green dot representing Blade was moving rapidly.

He immediately took the elevator to the floor where the other was located.

Ding!

The elevator stopped, and a group of vampires armed with firearms stood outside the doors.

The moment the elevator doors opened, they immediately pulled their triggers, and countless bullets poured out, clattering against the elevator interior.

However, when the doors opened fully, they discovered the elevator was empty; all the bullets had missed their mark.

"Cease fire!"

The lead vampire issued the order, signaling his subordinates with a hand gesture.

The vampire nodded, raised his assault rifle, and cautiously stepped into the elevator to investigate.

He scanned his surroundings, confirmed no one was there, and turned to shout: "Captain, there's no—"

"Watch out behind you!"

The vampires outside the elevator widened their eyes, pointing behind the vampire.

The vampire whipped his head around, only to see Du Mu dropping down from the elevator ceiling like a ghost, grinning right at him.

"Have you eaten? If not, let me treat you to some garlic."

Before the words had even faded, Du Mu shoved a Concentrated Garlic Grenade with the pin pulled into the vampire's mouth, then kicked him hard out of the elevator!

Yellow mist erupted from the vampire's mouth, instantly turning him into a roasted vampire—just add a dash of cumin and he'd be ready to eat.

Come to think of it, vampires really are an ingredient in the Classic of Mountains and Seas; eating them can prolong one's life.

"It's garlic extract, run!"

Seeing the spreading yellow mist, the vampires scrambled as if a septic tank had exploded, desperate to get away.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Du Mu quickly raised his gun and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullet after bullet pierced through the yellow mist, accurately drilling through the vampires' skulls.

As the yellow fog began to dissipate, only the lone vampire captain remained in the hallway.

Seeing how ferocious Du Mu was, the vampire captain dropped his assault rifle, clenched his fists into a fighting stance, and challenged Du Mu.

"Do you dare put down your gun and have a man-to-man duel with me?"

"I don't."

Du Mu answered crisply.

Vampire Captain: "..."

This script wasn't going quite the way he had imagined.

Bang! Bang!

Du Mu pulled the trigger, shattering the vampire captain's legs, then stepped forward and pressed the muzzle against his forehead.

"Where is Frost taking Blade?"

"You think I'd tell you?" the vampire captain sneered.

Bang!

Without a word, Du Mu fired another shot into the vampire captain's arm.

"From now on, every time you don't answer my question, I'm going to put a hole in you."

The pure silver coating on the bullet seared the wound, leaving the vampire captain in agonizing pain.

"Fuck, you—"

Bang!

"You..."

BANG!

"I'll talk, I'll talk..."

BANG!

"I'm already talking, why are you still hitting me!" the vampire captain broke down.

"My bad, force of habit."

"..."

Terrified that Du Mu would pull the trigger again, the vampire captain hurriedly blurted out, "Eternal Night Palace! They went to the Eternal Night Palace! Frost needs a living Daywalker to complete a certain ritual!"

It seemed Blade was not in immediate mortal danger.

Du Mu glanced at the map and saw the green dot representing his teammate beginning to move outward. He grabbed the vampire captain by the collar: "Do you have a car?"

"Y-yes, I do."

"Give me the keys!"

With a mournful face, the vampire captain tremblingly handed over the keys to the car he had just taken a loan out for.

Was he just robbed?

The Eternal Night Palace was located in a remote suburb currently under development; the construction site was visible from a distance.

However, a closer look revealed that the equipment was completely idle, showing no signs of actual construction—it was clearly a front to deceive the public.

Du Mu drove to a flat patch of land two hundred meters from the site and pulled out a pair of binoculars to observe.

A two-meter-high chain-link fence surrounded the perimeter, and numerous vampires armed with firearms patrolled back and forth, suggesting something of great importance was kept inside.

Du Mu checked the map and saw that Blade was deep underground, so he immediately pulled out his Diamond Pickaxe and began digging.

Ten minutes later, Du Mu broke through the soil, and the view before him suddenly opened up.

Deep underground lay an incredibly vast space, which appeared to be a structure left behind from long ago.

Following Blade's location, Du Mu quickly arrived at a sealed chamber where a few vampires were guarding a massive stone sarcophagus.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The Golden Desert Eagle roared, and the vampire guards instantly turned to ash.

"AAHH!!"

A piercing shriek suddenly erupted from nearby.

Du Mu turned his head to find a dark-skinned female vampire standing in the shadows.

Damn, when are they going to nerf this racial advantage?

BANG!

Du Mu decisively fired a shot to make her shut up.

He walked over to the sarcophagus, fumbled around, and pressed a switch.

With the sound of a mechanism engaging, the stone lid slowly slid open, revealing the unconscious Blade inside.

His condition was dire; sharp blades on both sides of the sarcophagus had sliced deep into his wrists, and blood was dripping from the wounds, flowing along the grooves of the stone into the depths below.

Without the support of the sarcophagus, Blade slumped directly to the floor.

"Blade, wake up."

Du Mu crouched down and patted Blade's face, but there was no response.

Judging by the deathly pallor of his skin, it was clear he was suffering from severe blood loss.

According to Blade, although he was a dhampir, he had never consumed fresh human blood, meaning his self-healing ability was nowhere near as potent as a full-blooded vampire's.

If this continued, even with Blade's robust physique, he would surely die.

Du Mu pulled the Fate Coin he had just acquired from his game inventory, but after looking at Blade's unlucky face, he put it away and swapped it for a red vial.

[Item: Life Potion (After use, gradually restores HP over 15 seconds)]

Du Mu pried Blade's mouth open and roughly poured the potion down his throat.

The effect was immediate!

The wounds on Blade's wrists began to heal at a visible rate, and his pale complexion gradually regained a hint of color. His eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

Looking at the waking Blade, Du Mu said speechlessly, "We agreed to hunt Frost together, how did you end up getting captured instead?"

"There was an accident. My mother isn't dead. It turns out she was turned into a vampire by Frost long ago and became one of his people. She helped him ambush me."

Blade's mood was incredibly complex at this moment.

Normally, the resurrection of one's mother would be a joyous occasion, even if she had become a vampire.

But he never expected that his own mother would end up with his nemesis, Frost!

In other words, Frost had become his stepfather; from now on, they would have to figure out how to address each other.

Thinking of this, Blade gritted his teeth: "I must find her and ask her to her face, why she would do such a thing!"

Du Mu looked at Blade with a hint of sympathy.

To have one's own mother scheme against her biological son for the sake of a stepfather, even going so far as to drive him to his death—no one could endure such a thing.

He patted Blade on the shoulder in comfort: "Then where is your mother? I can help you find her."

Blade looked around, struggling to recall: "Before I lost consciousness, she seemed to be right beside me. When you came in just now, did you see a Black woman?"

"..."

Du Mu glanced at the inconspicuous pile of ash in the corner and shook his head without hesitation: "Never saw her. I suspect your mother must have left, but I believe you two will be reunited sooner or later."