Chapter Ninety-Two: A Standoff of Stares

Hendel was a clever man, and from Baron Charles’s behavior alone he could tell that the fellow was inseparably bound up with vampires.

“Professor...”

Mulan caught his eye, and Hendel instantly fell silent. The servants of the baron’s household, who had been sent away earlier because of the sensitive matters being discussed, were now beginning to return one after another.

Breakfast was already nearly over. Mulan and Hendel soon stopped eating as well, letting the baronial servants clear away the tableware. Another footman then led them to the place where they were to rest.

The accommodations in the baron’s residence were, of course, far superior to those in an ordinary household. The two of them had separate rooms, and even maidservants assigned specifically to look after them. Most importantly, there was a private lavatory.

About half an hour later, Mulan and Hendel met in the corridor.

“Professor, I took a quick look around. The baron’s household has many servants, and they all seem to be human.”

Mulan idly spun his cane between his fingers like a pen and looked out toward the sunlight.

“I asked one of the servants. He said the baron has suddenly had something urgent come up, so he won’t appear until dinner, though lunch has already been arranged in advance. Guess where he is now?”

Hendel thought for a moment, then looked up and down.

“Probably lying in a coffin somewhere in a secret chamber.”

Mulan shook his head.

“That’s the tragedy of it. At his present stage, he hates sunlight and cannot sleep comfortably in a coffin. It may help him suppress his impulses, but lying inside is deeply stifling. Do you think he can just crawl in and fall asleep?”

Hendel blinked slightly.

“Is that so?”

“Ha ha ha. In truth, even among true vampires, many cannot sleep soundly in coffins at first. They simply grow used to it over time.”

“Then why do they sleep in coffins at all? Why not a bed?”

Hendel found it hard to understand. Even in an enclosed space, they could just put a bed inside.

Mulan smiled.

“True vampires attach great significance to their coffins. There must be a burial ceremony first. In a sense, they hide themselves and are laid to rest. Only after seven days in the grave do they emerge from the cemetery. The coffin that is dragged out in that way becomes their place of slumber. Or, if they find a grave that suits them reasonably well, they can simply take out the coffin inside and make do with that.”

“That’s disgusting...”

“What do you think Baron Charles uses?”

With that, Mulan started walking. Hendel hurried after him. They left the baron’s residence and readily accepted the servants’ suggestion of preparing a carriage, though they did not need a driver; Hendel took the reins himself. For the sake of conversation, Mulan did not sit inside the carriage either, but stayed outside on the roomy driver’s bench beside Hendel.

The carriage left the baron’s estate and headed straight for Charles Town. Soon they had returned to their earlier lodging, where they first retrieved their own luggage. Then, following the directions of the man with the leg injury, they drove for two minutes and arrived at that neighbor’s house.

As the horse whinnied to a stop, Mulan was already calling loudly into the house.

“Faroling, come out.”

Faroling was the pale, sallow-faced man. Ten or so seconds later he opened the door, a suitcase in hand, but remained standing just inside without coming out.

“Are you, Lord Jonste, here to take me to the station? There will be a train stopping today.”

“Ha ha ha, get in!”

Mulan called out as he climbed down from the driver’s seat and opened the carriage door.

Faroling instinctively looked up at the sky, then opened a large black umbrella he carried with him. That gesture immediately put Hendel on guard.

Mulan, however, showed no change in demeanor. He boarded the carriage with Faroling, tapped the body of the vehicle, and Hendel understood at once and set the carriage in motion.

Soon the carriage had left town, but Faroling’s already unlovely face grew even darker. Looking at Mulan, he said in a low voice,

“This is not the road to the station.”

Mulan sat opposite him, idly spinning his cane in the jolting carriage.

“Of course it isn’t. I never said we were going to the station. And besides, the train that stops today is already carrying many passengers. There is no way it could take the several hundred people on our side. At most, only a few dozen can get on. To rush to the station like the others would only mean that most of them have to come back in the end. What would be the point?”

“But you can get on, Lord Jonste!”

Faroling stressed Mulan’s title with deliberate emphasis. Watching Mulan still twirling his cane, he could not help asking,

“Is that really so entertaining?”

“This is not merely play. In a jolting carriage, being able to spin a cane in apparent ease while catching every movement with precision is a form of training for control and balance. It requires the use of the muscles and senses throughout the entire body.”

Faroling’s expression became more solemn.

“My, you are truly diligent, sir. So where exactly are we going?”

Mulan suddenly gripped the cane.

“You still haven’t thanked me, Faroling.”

“Thank you?”

“Yes. Without me, you would never have shaken off the vampire’s entanglement. I am not going to make any outrageous demands of you, nor restrict your personal freedom. As your savior, a simple thank you should not be too much to ask, should it, Awakened One?”

Faroling stared at Mulan expressionlessly. After a long silence, he finally forced out two words.

“Thank you.”

“Mm, you are welcome. And though I said I would not make any outrageous demands, I do have requirements. I need to confirm your exact identity in life, where you lived, and what family you belonged to, to make sure you are not someone who would act recklessly. You know, your condition is rather special. If you wished, you could cause immense harm to ordinary people.”

Faroling wore his usual gloomy expression.

“Then what about before that is clarified?”

“You stay with me.”

With that, Mulan’s words left Faroling no room but to nod helplessly.

“All right. I won’t run around. But my sense of time is somewhat chaotic now. Many things are blurry in my memory, and I do not understand the modern situation very well. Perhaps you can help me as well.”

Faroling was the only name he remembered. All the rest of his memories were dim and indistinct. He was neither vampire nor ordinary human. He was an Awakened One.

Unlike Mulan’s own path as an Awakened One, which had once offered him a choice, Mulan’s decision would have meant taking the first step into the supernatural by his own will. Faroling, however, was an Awakened One who had arisen naturally. His current state was more like a sort of zombie that was not particularly rigid.

It could be said that, at this stage, Awakened Ones could not see sunlight either, and likewise walked through the night. But unlike vampires, Awakened Ones longed for sunlight, whereas vampires were filled with loathing for it.

The two seemed to stand at roughly the same starting point, yet headed in completely different directions. That was also why the path of the Awakened Ones could evolve into the Apostles of Dawn, while vampires became the Night Nobility with only a thin sheen of false glory.

Faroling’s awakening had also arisen from an accident. His coffin had been dragged out by that vampire, and when the coffin was opened, Faroling woke up, startling the vampire terribly at first before filling him with delighted surprise.

Faced with Faroling’s plea for help, Mulan readily agreed.

“No problem. I will also keep your existence temporarily secret.”

While Mulan and Faroling were talking, the carriage continued onward. Before long it had left Charles Town and reached the woodland near the baron’s estate, but the carriage did not go farther. It stopped in the forest, and the three of them got out together, circling around from the other side to the baronial residence.

The three of them avoided the baron’s servants with remarkable ease, and soon found the entrance to a cellar. They opened the wooden floor door and entered together.

They descended a long, deep staircase, all around them a curtain of blackness. Mulan and Hendel needed to adjust somewhat to the dark, while Faroling was unaffected save for a slightly diminished sense of color in the night.

The cellar was deep, and once they reached the bottom there was even a long corridor, with several rooms on either side. Along the hallway walls were fire basins, all of them now extinguished.

The three of them moved steadily forward. In the end, they softly pushed open a wooden door and entered a circular hall. They encountered no real resistance along the way. The only servant keeping watch over the cellar was easily misled into leaving for a while, allowing Mulan and the others to enter.

Mulan took out his lighter. With a click, a flame sprang to life, illuminating the coffin at the center. In the corners of the coffin, a few specks of coal dust could be seen.

“Looks like it had been hidden in a pile of coal on the train. Baron Charles must have secretly brought the coffin back last night. Oh, right, this is yours, isn’t it?”

A strange, stiff expression appeared on Faroling’s face, something between a smile and no smile at all. Then he slowly nodded.

“Mm...”

“I’ll bet a silver dina that Baron Charles is inside.”

Saying this, Mulan handed the lighter to Hendel and placed both hands directly on the coffin lid. With a gentle lift, he flipped it open.

Crash.

The coffin board struck the floor, making a loud racket in the sealed space of the cellar. Baron Charles, who had been in a state of sleep, was immediately jolted awake. He opened his eyes to find three faces staring down at him from outside the coffin.

“Well, well, Charles. Fancy meeting you here.”

On one side Mulan’s face was lit, on the other it was swallowed by shadow, and his smile looked especially eerie in the flickering glow of the lighter.

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