"How did you feel?" After visiting the castle, Dracula led Leng Yue and the others to his room.

The castle has many rooms, but each room is decorated in a similar way, so there wasn't much to see.

Finally, Dracula led them to his room. "Please come in, this is my room."

Like the previous room, it was sparsely furnished, containing only simple cabinets and a dark, patterned coffin that exuded an antique feel.

"Please sit wherever you like, don't be shy." Dracula elegantly gestured to the carpet, while Leng Yue's face only showed a 'Are you kidding me?' expression.

Qian Chen smiled politely but distantly, "It's alright, standing is fine too."

"How did you feel after your visit?" Dracula seemed oblivious to Leng Yue's expression, continuing to speak to Qian Chen with a good feeling.

"It's alright." Qian Chen thought about the pile of coffins. What could she say? That she preferred sleeping in a bed?

"Are you looking for a little girl?" Dracula suddenly changed the subject, looking at Qian Chen and Leng Yue with a half-smile.

"What do you mean?" Qian Chen's expression remained unchanged, but he became increasingly wary.

"Are you blood hunters?" Dracula retorted.

"You knew all along?" Qianchen stared at Dracula. "Why did you still invite us here?"

“Because of curiosity.” Dracula looked at Qian Chen and answered after a while, “You are different from ordinary blood hunters, and I am very curious about you.”

"What do you mean?" Qianchen asked, pulling Lengyue back a step.

"You come from the East, don't you? I've always longed to visit that mysterious country. I've wanted to go and see it for a long time, so I wanted to learn more about you." Dracula finally revealed his true purpose.

Qianchen looked at Dracula suspiciously, then exchanged a glance with Lengyue, who was also not very convinced.

“You’ve lived so long, you can go wherever you want, why bother asking us?” Leng Yue questioned, ignoring everything else.

"Don't you know?" Dracula asked with a look of surprise. "There is a barrier between the East and the West, and neither side can enter or leave without permission."

“Barrier? I think it’s a barrier?” Leng Yue said, exchanging a glance with Qian Chen, and then continued, “We didn’t notice it. Maybe the barrier doesn’t work on us.”

"That's what I wanted to ask, Qian, Leng, can you tell me how to get through that barrier?" Dracula's eyes immediately lit up.

Leng Yue shook her head, then thought for a moment, "It should be fine for ordinary humans, right?"

"But I'm not one of them, so how can I go to that faraway Eastern country?" Dracula's shoulders slumped when he heard Leng Yue's words.

"Why are you so fixated on this?" Qianchen asked. "Here, you have endless wealth, such a privileged life, and you can even live forever. Why do you insist on going to the East?"

“It’s because I have everything—I’m immortal, I’m rich—but I prefer adventure!” Dracula shook his head. “If you were like me, living in the same world, doing the same things day after day, year after year, you would eventually get tired.”

"So, immortality doesn't seem to be a good thing for you either." Leng Yue nodded. If she and Qian Chen couldn't accompany each other for eternity, if they couldn't keep traveling to see different worlds, then wouldn't they be tired of their current life by now?

"Sorry, we really can't help you with this. We have other things to do, so we'll have to leave now!" Qianchen tugged at Lengyue's hand. They had wasted a lot of time, and now that they were certain that Dracula wasn't plotting against them, they could finally leave.

"Wait, I..." Dracula was still unwilling to give up and wanted to inquire about the East.

"Dracula, we really didn't know, so we're truly sorry." Qianchen had no intention of saying anything more to him.

"Wait, one last question," Dracula changed his tune when he saw that Qianchen and Lengyue had made up their minds, "Are you also looking for the Demon-Slaying Pearl?"

"The Demon-Encountering Bead? What's that?" Leng Yue was dumbfounded. Wasn't it a red bead?

“Legend has it that before Cain fell into slumber, he was injured by an angel. And the one that injured him was the Demon Orb.” Dracula spoke of their tribe’s ancient legend. “Later, Cain fell into slumber, and the Demon Orb disappeared. But recently, some people say that the Demon Orb has reappeared, so many humans and vampires are searching for it.”

"Why is it called the Demon-Encountering Pearl? Doesn't 'Demonic Encountering Pearl' mean the appearance of demons?" Leng Yue didn't quite understand.

"Actually, what that bead was originally called is no longer important. Because ever since it severely injured Cain, the bead has been stained with Cain's blood, so anyone who touches that bead will mutate." Dracula seemed to be lost in the past.

"The Demon-Slaying Pearl can transform anyone who comes into contact with it into a vampire, enhancing their power and purifying their bloodline. That's why many blood hunters and vampires search for it." Dracula looked at Qianchen and Lengyue. "Do you know how long the Demon-Slaying Pearl has been missing?"

Qianchen and Lengyue shook their heads.

“The Demon Orb has never actually disappeared,” Dracula chuckled eerily. “These people are all fighting over the Demon Orb, but in reality, the Demon Orb is also using them. The power of the Demon Orb is not as strong as people imagine. It appears in the world every now and then, causing everyone to fight. In the end, all of these people will become its nourishment.”

Leng Yue shuddered. "This bead has come to life? It feels like it has its own thoughts."

Dracula gave another sinister smile. "It's not that it's become a spirit, it's not that it has its own thoughts, but rather that there's something wrong with this bead."

"Who told you all this?" Qianchen frowned.

Dracula's words seemed reasonable, since he said it was a legend, a story. However, no matter how he explained it, Qianchen felt that this story was known only to Dracula.

“Elder, the elder of our Dracula clan.” Dracula smiled. “When I was very young, the elder told me this. He taught me not to be greedy, not to always be obsessed with power, otherwise one day I would become a slave to that power.”

"Your Grand Elder's words are quite profound, I never expected that. So now? Where has your Grand Elder gone?" Leng Yue asked curiously. For some reason, she always felt that someone who could say such things didn't seem like a Western vampire.

"The Grand Elder came from the East. He crossed the barrier to the East when I was two hundred years old." At the time, the Grand Elder only said he was going back to settle things, but he has been gone for hundreds of years. I wonder how he is now? Dracula really wants to see the Grand Elder and find out how he is doing.

"Is that so? No wonder you always go to the East? But I'm sorry, we really can't help you." Leng Yue was helpless.

Dracula nodded. "I understand."