Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 897: The Bond of the Immortals (Final)

They are powerful, with a long and storied history.

They have survived countless ages, enduring schemes and plots unimaginable to ordinary people.

They view humans the way humans view food.

Noble and elegant, walkers of the night, lazy and decadent, possessing eternal youth... Perhaps many would consider them nearly perfect.

Yet even they have been manipulated—by the very humans they disdain.

No coercion or threats, just a small trick, a performance of sorrow, and humans turned them into tools to fulfill their ambitions.

It’s hard to say who is more pitiable.

Luo Qiu and his group had already withdrawn from Jin Wucheng’s memories. What followed was simply Jin Wucheng, as a participant, making plans with Karen Yishel to find the real “culprit.”

To surprise the true culprit, Karen Yishel transformed into Tu Shenyi. For this, she even handed over her “Three Lives” to Cythacyl.

But all of this was part of Jin Wucheng’s plan to retrieve the entire "Worry-Free" series for his own purposes, aiming to create what was recorded on the last few pages of the notebook. Of course, to gain Karen Yishel’s trust, he continuously begged this elder of Tu Shenyi for a chance to become a vampire.

“Is there always a disgusting desire behind every revenge story?” Zhong Luoyue sighed softly. She was the first to speak.

Karen Yishel remained silent. As soon as their consciousness returned, it felt as if her mind had been pulled out once again, and she sat down directly.

She lowered her head, holding her blood-stained sword for support, her pale hair hanging down to cover her face. Jin Wucheng was dead.

The moment their consciousness left Jin Wucheng’s memory, his death followed.

His body had long been fragile, tortured further, barely sustained by some unknown force—though even in consciousness, he was confused.

But when the intruding consciousness left his memory, he instinctively felt a sense of relief... and death followed.

Luo Qiu examined Jin Wucheng’s corpse... Suddenly, he approached it and crouched down.

He glanced at Jin Wucheng’s severed finger, frowning... In the chaotic laboratory, a mass of black material and mechanical debris stirred, and something emerged, slowly flying into Luo Qiu’s palm.

It was a black finger sheath, the one Jin Wucheng had worn on his severed finger.

Elizabeth and Zhong Luoyue curiously watched Luo Qiu’s actions—Zhong Luoyue felt a bit numb to such supernatural events, even finding this act of retrieving objects remotely somewhat childish.

Luo Qiu examined the sheath, slowly pulling something out of it.

“What is this...” Elizabeth murmured in confusion.

The black sheath contained several rolled-up pieces of paper. When unrolled, it was clear they had been torn out of something. Luo Qiu glanced toward the pure white room, reached out, and an old notebook flew to his side. He opened it and began reading.

“These last pages... they’ve been with him all along,” Karen Yishel said, lifting her head.

Luo Qiu saw no great sorrow in her face, only the pale color that matched her hair. But he knew that before she had seen that black coffin, her hair had not been white.

Luo Qiu placed the torn pages back into the notebook, closed it, and handed it to Karen Yishel.

But she only shook her head lightly.

Luo Qiu hesitated, then nodded, putting the notebook away and thanking her.

Karen Yishel said nothing further. She stood and gazed at the “Worry-Free” series.

“I’m just curious, may I keep a small portion of these?” Luo Qiu suddenly asked.

Karen Yishel replied calmly, “Even if you wanted to take it all, I couldn’t stop you.”

“I only need a little.”

True to his word, Luo Qiu quickly returned all the “Worry-Free” series items to Karen Yishel.

She said nothing, holding the items in her arms as she walked into the pure white room.

Inside, there were hidden mechanisms, and after opening them, the walls flipped over, revealing a black coffin.

Karen Yishel opened the coffin, placed the “Worry-Free” series inside, and stood quietly.

There was no need to peek inside; those who had entered Jin Wucheng’s inner world recognized the coffin’s origin... inside was Tu Shenyi’s body.

“Perhaps... perhaps Miss Karen had already sensed something odd about Jin Wucheng,” Zhong Luoyue said suddenly. “She retrieved the ‘Worry-Free’ series because they were Tu Shenyi’s creations. She just wanted to reclaim them... Tu Shenyi’s relics.”

Karen Yishel suddenly smiled, her beauty dazzling.

“When lovers have been together for a long time, they inevitably argue,” Karen Yishel said softly. “For us, time loses its meaning day by day. Maybe we tend to magnify small things, trying to savor different experiences.”

She caressed the coffin. “At first, we were just discussing the possibility of true blood. We both knew it couldn’t be created... I saw reality clearly, but he was an idealist. Foolish and romantic.”

She looked at the group, her face lonely. “After one argument, I traveled the world. During that time, I realized I was always thinking of him... I knew I loved him even more. I waited for a chance to reunite, but that chance never came.”

“For the past six months, the only thing keeping me going was finding his killer.” She smiled bitterly, still beautiful.

“Sometimes I wonder, if I had been born human, if I were human... would I still have met him?”

Suddenly, the room trembled, as if about to collapse.

Karen Yishel pointed to a wall, which cracked open to reveal a passage.

“Miss Karen!”

Elizabeth shouted, but at that moment, a large stone fell from the ceiling. Karen Yishel swallowed the “Three Lives” gem and calmly stepped into the coffin.

The floor cracked, the coffin sank, and the entire underground labyrinth began to disintegrate.

...

...

Boom!

The ancient castle collapsed. The lavish decorations, priceless antiques, and countless years of history vanished in an instant.

The servants within scrambled to escape, fortunately suffering no fatalities, only minor injuries. Meanwhile, the bodyguards of wealthy guests who had been kept outside now rushed to the scene, fearing the worst for their employers trapped inside.

How did this ancient castle, with centuries of history, suddenly collapse? Was it because it had accumulated too many old things and had finally decayed?

No one knew… they were just doing everything they could to notify the outside world for help.

…

Amidst the ruins of the collapsed castle, there was suddenly a loud noise. The piled stones burst apart, followed by the sound of coughing.

Zhong Luoyue was the first to emerge from the explosion. She looked up; the stars weren't very bright, but the moonlight was beautiful.

Next came Luo Qiu and Elizabeth, both walking out slowly.

Luo Qiu also glanced at the night sky, then at the castle that had become ruins.

"Finally out, huh..." Zhong Luoyue leaned against a pillar and slowly slid down, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted, overwhelmed by an indescribable sensation.

She suddenly realized she didn’t seem to dislike the night as much anymore.

After a moment of silence, Zhong Luoyue suddenly asked, "So Miss Karen, in the end, chose to commit suicide?"

"No, she’s probably just asleep," Elizabeth shook her head. "A soul that commits suicide is trapped in a sea of pain. If Miss Karen had killed herself, she wouldn't be able to meet Mr. Tu in the afterlife."

"The afterlife…" Zhong Luoyue shook her head, feeling like the world in front of her had become entirely fantastical.

"So she's just going to keep sleeping?" Zhong Luoyue asked curiously.

"A life of drunken dreams," Luo Qiu suddenly said. "She swallowed 'Three Lives' in the end. She can wake up whenever she wants, or choose never to wake up."

Zhong Luoyue smiled bitterly, shaking her head with a sigh. "There's still one thing I don’t understand."

She suddenly looked at Luo Qiu—the mysterious man who always seemed to have the answers no matter the question. "Tu Shenyi is a vampire, and I've seen firsthand the power of vampires… So how did Jin Wucheng manage to bind him? Did he really ambush him?"

"Probably not," Luo Qiu said softly. "Mr. Tu most likely locked himself up."

Elizabeth and Zhong Luoyue looked at Luo Qiu in confusion.

Luo Qiu explained calmly, "Think back to Jin Wucheng's memories that we saw. In the stone chamber, he cautiously approached, hesitated before opening the door to peek inside. If Jin Wucheng had trapped Mr. Tu Shenyi, he wouldn’t need to act like that, would he? Everything he did suggests that..."

"That it was as if he had just discovered it!" Zhong Luoyue blurted out.

Luo Qiu glanced at her.

Zhong Luoyue quickly shut her mouth, fearing that interrupting this mysterious young man’s explanation might annoy him.

Elizabeth didn’t notice the exchange and asked in confusion, "Why would Mr. Tu imprison himself?"

"To prevent himself from feeding on blood," Luo Qiu said quietly. "To break the vampire's instinct… remember the claw marks in the stone chamber?"

Deep, crisscrossed, and frenzied claw marks.

They both nodded instinctively.

Luo Qiu continued, "I imagine that each of those claw marks was filled with his deep love for Miss Karen... he probably wanted to tear it all down."

He had wailed in agony, forcibly resisting his instincts and bodily needs, like a drug addict going through detox, only scratching at the cold stone walls when the pain was unbearable.

Suddenly, Zhong Luoyue and Elizabeth recalled something—when Elizabeth, still unfamiliar with telepathy, had taken them into Jin Wucheng’s memories.

For a fleeting moment, they had ‘seen’ each other’s memories.

…

…

Christmas, 1992.

They had met at this place two years ago, around this time.

Two years later, they had returned, but now, he had become like her.

He and she, dressed lightly, entered a small bar hand in hand… the atmosphere was as lively as it had been two years ago.

But this time, the young man wasn’t broke, left with just a single 1-mark coin, so he didn’t join the small gambling crowd at the bar.

They sat at the counter, silently gazing at each other, quietly waiting for the final chimes of Christmas Eve.

He suddenly said, "I can still faintly taste something."

She asked curiously, "Blood?"

He whispered, "Your lips."

When the bells chimed, the bar fell silent as people took a moment to express gratitude and embrace their loved ones.

They hugged each other and kissed.

How they wished every day could pass just like that.

After the kiss, the young man thought of something—he was always full of whimsical ideas. The woman felt that way.

He said, "Do you think we could create a substitute, something to replace blood entirely? I imagine if one day we no longer needed humans as food, if we could order food in a restaurant… if people no longer feared us, looking at us as simply as they would look at Asians, whites, or blacks."

"Don’t be silly."

"But what if it works?"

"And if it doesn’t?"

He joked, "If we can’t make it, then I’ll just quit drinking blood, summarize my experience, and maybe even become a star in the vampire world!"

He was truly an unbelievably foolish man… she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

But he was also incredibly capable of action, already thinking about whether the plan was feasible. "Hmm… research would probably require a lot of funding. Although you’ve accumulated quite a bit of wealth, it might not be enough…"

Not long after, a legendary figure appeared in the world of gambling, a man people only knew by name but had never seen.

He wore a half-white mask and was undefeated in every game he played. People called him by his nickname: the God of Gambling.

…

…

To fulfill every promise to you, whether intentional or unintentional… simply because I love you deeply.