our family is gone

Many years ago, the manor was built on a drained swamp, and the surrounding grounds and gardens were once splendid due to the diligent work of servants employed by the ancestor.

Under the stars, grand dinners and lavish social events were held all night long, although this behavior was commonplace for people of status like the ancestors.

Now, once magnificent gardens, grand grounds and luxurious mansions are overgrown and crumbling, the untamed wilderness has returned, reclaiming what man had taken from nature, and plants and animals once driven from their ancestral habitats are re-entering the overgrown yards.

Little by little, the courtyard and its surrounding gardens have been flooded to the naked eye, and the building is slowly sinking into the growing swamp and merging with the surrounding environment, forming a humid, foggy maze.

Lance seemed to have entered another world when he passed through the fog. The cold was isolated and what he stepped on was no longer hard frozen soil, but a stone floor that sank into the swamp. Fortunately, the water source dried up in winter, so although it was a bit muddy, he did not sink into it.

Everywhere you look, you can see the remains of brick and stone walls that collapsed as the swamp swallowed up the foundation and destroyed it. Even the black iron fence seemed to have been twisted by some impact, and no one knew what had escaped from it.

Through the ruined gates stepped the courtyard, though soaked and submerged, these stone steps and winding gardens were a place of long-forgotten revelry and still-remembered regret.

The apathetic and ascetic fountains and angel statues were covered with weeds, corpses were everywhere visible in the bushes, the crumbling rock pillars seemed like they would collapse in the next second, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

What is even more irritating is the ubiquitous buzzing in the ears, as if countless mosquitoes are lingering around them.

In a place like this, let alone coming alone, even if there is a group of people, the pressure would be doubled in such an environment. Only people like Lance strolled in the courtyard as if they were really strolling.

Soon he discovered something, it was a pile of strange corpses. From the most conspicuous head, he could feel that thing did not look like human no matter how he looked at it, especially the two strange fangs in its mouth and a mouth full of sharp teeth, which looked like the mouthparts of some insect.

But this was not the reason why Lance stopped, but he actually felt that the thing was not completely dead yet. As long as it fell into a deep sleep, it would be like an electrical appliance that had run out of power.

Lance knew what kind of monsters were lurking in the courtyard, and he also knew what they were craving.

Even if the ancestor was a prodigal son before this, after experiencing the Bloody Courtyard incident, he became a talented researcher in the extraordinary world.

He was able to create an ascension ritual in an attempt to become a god, so how could he not have studied what happened in the courtyard?

The countess he killed was a Bloodborn, a species of monsters hidden in the human world who are themselves a walking curse, a spreading plague.

The noble who drank the blood wine made from the countess's blood was infected with the scarlet curse and fell insane in a short period of time, becoming a crazy monster with an insatiable thirst for blood.

Those cursed will be changed, their noses will be elongated, their skin will become pale like the dead, their eyes will become larger and blacker and will not blink, their teeth will fall out and be replaced by fangs, and insect-like organs and limbs will grow on their bodies.

Their minds slowly fall into hallucination and madness but they still believe themselves to be human. They hide under a thin layer of hypocritical sophistication and nobility, but they can never escape the bloodthirsty scarlet curse.

Ordinary means cannot kill them at all. Even now that they look like a pile of mummies, they are still not completely dead.

Maybe an intruder dug through the bones with his bare hands in the hope of finding some treasure, or maybe he stepped on them and was scratched by the bones, and the blood dripped on them, awakening them...

Only fire or some supernatural power can completely wipe out the existence of the blood descendants, but the old ancestor simply cannot waste time dealing with a pile of flesh and blood that has been cursed and contaminated to him, so he seals it up directly like the farm.

It was not until the ancestor died and the seal loosened that the mist-shrouded courtyard reappeared in reality.

Sacrifice!

Lance used his ability on the corpse, but the Void looked down upon that bit of spirituality.

"A damn poor fellow, I can't squeeze anything out of him..."

Lance complained that he didn't get any benefit and kicked the skeletons apart, but some jewelry fell out instead.

As he continued walking, Lance realized that he really owed the ancestor a lot. Every day he was either cleaning up his ass or was on his way to cleaning his ass.

But before he walked too far, he startled something. Two strange-looking creatures appeared in the corridor of the courtyard.

At that time, the nobles who drank the blood wine and became infected attacked all living things in the courtyard, causing the scarlet curse to spread like a plague. It can be said that now only the blood descendants are alive in the courtyard.

And both of them in front of him showed inhuman postures.

A short man dressed in servant's clothes was holding a tray in his hands.

They looked like they might have been the personal attendants of some nobleman. They were like insects buzzing in a busy beehive all day long, bringing plates of delicious food and pouring a glass of blood-red wine, all just to take care of their master's needs.

And when the Scarlet Curse infected the nobles in the courtyard, it was only a matter of time before the curse spread to those who served them.

Just like now, the head has grown sharp mouthparts like a mosquito, and it has big black eyes and pale skin as if it has been dead for who knows how long.

The clothes on the other one show that he should be the housekeeper hired by the ancestor to manage the courtyard. In simple terms, he was also a servant, and now he has not been spared either.

There weren't many changes on the body. The body was hunched over and the hands were hanging loosely, but the head disappeared and turned into a very exaggerated monster that looked like a blood-sucking tick growing on the neck. The overlapping teeth covered the original face, and the limbs were still moving.

It looked strange, like a giant, blood-filled tick holding a corpse on its head, but just like they had provided services to their ancestors in the past, now they had become blood beggars, collecting blood for the nobles.

The servants and blood beggars appeared and attacked Lance impatiently.

Collect blood!

The tick's mouth that was biting the human head of the blood beggar opened like a zipper, revealing the skull that had turned into bones. However, the key point was that several thin tubes stretched out and stabbed Lance's body.

Lance was not here to play, he pulled out the bloody blade and stabbed it straight out, the sword directly inserted into the tick that replaced the head through the open mouth, and the straw reaching towards him suddenly softened.

However, something interesting happened. This magic sword had not found any blood to absorb since it came with Lance. It either cut crystals or stones. This time, the blood runes flowed, and the blood tank increased directly. On the other hand, the tick's congested belly shrank in a short time, and when the sword was drawn, it fell down like a dried corpse.

However, Lance did not stop at all. His speed was too fast. Without waiting for the servant to react, he swung his sword with his backhand. The power of the blood-sucking sword seemed to be even stronger. It slashed at the servant and killed him instantly. The blood fell on the sword, making the patterns on the sword shine again.

Lance put away the sword and held it in front of him to examine it carefully, as if he had found an interesting toy.

The power of these blood descendants lies in their blood, and the weapons in their hands are simply their natural nemesis.

Now Lance was impatient to find more blood descendants to test the sword, and the thing that was most abundant here was monsters. After all, the most common people in this world were not nobles, but ordinary people who served the nobles.

The three wandering blood beggars were discovered by Lance, and then hacked to death by him without any surprise. This was not a battle, but a one-sided massacre.

The blood blade in his hand also absorbed more blood, and its power began to slowly show.

It is no longer a solid sword, but is sharper, feeding back strength to the holder, and even using this power for healing.

It’s a pity that Lance rejected its power in exchange for a more direct improvement of his body.

Maybe it was the bloody smell released by the battle just now that attracted something. Amidst the buzzing sound, Lance saw a moving black cloud coming towards him. When he got closer, he found that it was actually formed by countless mosquitoes. Some were as big as a thumb, and some were as big as a fist. Just seeing them made people feel sick.

It was impossible to kill those things one by one with the sword in his hand, but Lance took out another piece of equipment at this time - the Holy Grail of Blood.

At this time, the pirate blood accumulated in the cup had long been refined by Lance for research, but even so, when Lance raised the Holy Grail, the mosquitoes that attacked Lance suddenly exploded with crackling sounds, and the mosquito corpses kept falling like rain. In just a few seconds, only scarlet blood mist was left at the original position.

"Come here quickly."

Lance murmured to himself, and the blood mist seemed to be drawn into the cup, and even the fallen insect corpses were drained of their last bit of strength.

Such a weird scene was naturally the result of Lance activating the power of the Holy Grail to control blood and detonating the blood in their bodies. He had tested it on pirates before. It might be a bit difficult to deal with large living creatures. It would only be easy to control the blood if wounds appeared and the blood flowed out of the body. However, these mosquitoes were just right. They were simply a magic weapon for clearing out the miscellaneous soldiers.

After finishing, Lance swished the thin blood in the cup but couldn't help frowning.

The blood of these vampires carries a strange power, which should be the scarlet curse, which means it is contaminated and cannot be used. No wonder even the ancestors despise it.

This discovery made Lance frown, but he didn't care too much. He quickly approached the place where the insects were and found the insect nest that was as tall as a person under the cover of bushes and trees.

The whole thing looks like a big cocoon with many holes of different sizes. Some of the big ones can fit a fist in, and some are oozing blood-red liquid. You can imagine what they eat. They are most likely the culprit for the animal mummies outside.

Combined with the blood beggars waiting here, Lance roughly understood how the blood descendants in this courtyard survived.

These insects are like little bees. They go out to suck blood and come back. The blood beggars, the stewards and servants, suck blood from the insects, and then pass it on to the upper levels. There is really no escape from exploitation anywhere.

Of course, this is just a survival skill under the ancestor's seal. If it weren't winter now, these blood descendants would have spread the scarlet curse long ago.

This discovery made Lance more determined to clean up the yard. He swung his sword to chop up the insect nest, which was as dry as tree bark, along with the pile of insects, then took out a torch and set it on fire.

The crackling sound made him feel inexplicably comfortable. It turned out that killing mosquitoes always made people feel comfortable.

Without caring about this, Lance continued walking with the Holy Grail in one hand and a greatsword in the other.

Flower beds can be seen everywhere on the roadside, the soil in them soaked with blood that is about to coagulate, blooming with bright blood flowers.

The skeleton locked in the low iron cage was probably some unlucky guy who accidentally made a mistake and bumped into a noble. It was hard to imagine how he was stuffed in there. Just looking at it, one could seem to feel the pain he suffered in his lifetime.

Rotting plants, dilapidated angel statues, and a fountain with an unknown source that was oozing bloody ichor as if it was cursed.

But the most common thing here is the insect nest, there are large insect nests like the one just now, and there are also throbbing insect cocoons.

Unlike the hornet's nest which is made of yellowish brown wood, there are several red and black cocoons of different sizes gathered together. The big one is only half a person's height, and the small one is as big as a human head, just like the eggs laid by some insects.

What's even more bizarre is that behind the translucent shell wall, the constantly twitching organs are faintly visible, and no one knows what this thing will hatch.

Lance had no interest in what was inside. He thrust his sword into it and sucked the life force out of it in one breath. The plump cocoon became shriveled and was burned by fire.

He is here to bring destruction.

Until he encountered those piles of strange corpses again. This time, Lance did not leave directly, but poured out a few drops of the cursed blood in the Holy Grail as an experiment.

Just by dropping the liquid condensed with the blood of the vampires into it, one could feel that the pile of corpses was actually sprouting vigorous vitality.

The scene that appeared in the next second made even Lance, a demigod of flesh and blood, marvel. The corpse, which didn't have much flesh and blood to begin with, was madly absorbing the power of blood like a field that had been dry for a long time. It was a pity that it could no longer restore its full human muscles, but it was enough to support the clothes and stand up again.

Lance had no intention of interfering, but just watched as a tick-headed blood beggar, a fawning servant, crawled out from the pile of corpses.

These two were monsters that had been seen before, but then a new one stood up that had not been seen before.

It is the height of an adult, with pale skin and a mosquito-like head with a pointed mouth, poisonous fangs and big black eyes that looks like it has mutated after being infected by a virus.

Although the clothes on his body are old, one can still feel how decent they were in the past, far beyond the reach of the servants. Even after becoming a blood descendant, his manners and posture still reveal a superior attitude. (End of this chapter)