"Thirteen artifacts, thirteen wastes, the most pitiful of which belongs to the lantern of the ghosts!"

This was a saying from a vampire ancestor in the past, passed down to later generations and well-known among many descendants. For example, Lao Wu knew this phrase well and understood it clearly:

As a tool for creating illusions, the ghost lantern cannot be used indefinitely. According to the experience and lessons passed down from Lao Wu's ancestors:

"Only use the 'ghost lantern' as a last resort, because it can only be ignited once every one hundred years, and it can only be effective for that one time. Once its effect ends, it is at the moment when its own light extinguishes!"

When Lao Yi recalled this advice from his ancestor, he saw the "ghost lantern" he dropped rolling on the ground several times before coming to a stop. It was at the moment when the light of the lamp ceased completely, with only a lingering warmth on the wick.

A treasure to be used once every hundred years bid farewell to its brief working time, returning to its long "resting" state.

"Ahhhhhh!"

As Lao Wu held the treasure in his hands, a wave of intense emotions surged through him, and he let out a desperate cry.

Looking at his appearance, even Wang Yafu, who stood on the opposite side, felt a bit of sympathy.

"What did I do wrong? Is it my fault?" Alice, with her extremely self-centered personality, did not feel any regret for accidentally knocking over the "ghost lantern" upon seeing Lao Wu's agonizing reaction. Instead, she shifted the blame:

"It's that guy's fault for putting something flammable within a certain range of me. I already showed great mercy by not punishing him!"

This was roughly Alice's response. Dracula, the treasure-loving elder sister, regained her composure from her fantasy and directed her anger towards Lao Wu as she returned to reality.

"I will not spare you!"

Compared to her performance during the battle, Dracula's attack at that moment was more intense and desperate.

Lao Wu, who was barely holding on, could understand:

"Because I launched a sneak attack earlier, because I made you lose face in front of both armies, you are this angry."

"No, what I hate is that you let me enjoy the most exquisite happiness in the illusion, only to bring me back to reality, making me feel profound despair in comparison."

"Getting angry for such a reason... I never thought I would encounter an opponent like you, so stingy with money."

At the mention of the term "stingy with money," Lao Wu's subordinates blushed with embarrassment. Looking at their expressions, it seemed like they wanted to comment, but they were afraid of being reprimanded later.

The fight continued for a while, with Lao Wu being constantly pressed by the enraged Dracula until he found himself in an unequivocal defeat. Just before truly losing his life, Lao Wu turned and fled, retreating with his troops back to the castle in his territory.

Before seeing the castle, Wang Yafu thought his "uncle" lived in a dilapidated place, but upon seeing it, reality shattered his imagination. Wang Yafu was still too young.

The reason why the treasure-loving elder sister was willing to spend precious wealth on something as trivial as a "residence" could only be for the sake of money. Lao Wu had once considered selling the castle with hundreds of years of history and buying a small house instead, but when the day to move came, he regretted it, as the narrow cottage could not fit his precious many collections.

For the sake of property security, Lao Wu dismissed the idea of turning his castle into cash and chose to stay here honestly.

Now, with no way out, he prepared to face his fate with his residence!

Seeing the enemy troops taking a defensive stance, Dracula sent a large army to attempt to end the battle within half a day. Simultaneously, with the sound of a horn and urgent roars, the "New King's Army" began attacking the castle.

The soldiers of his team, armed with makeshift ladders, shouted as they rushed towards the castle, but facing the towering and solid fortress, they couldn't help but feel powerless.

Under Lao Wu's command, archers started shooting barrages of arrows, repelling many attacking soldiers. Those who were not targeted by the arrows pushed forward even faster, fearing getting hit themselves. Soon after, the enemy archers entered the range and began showering the walls with arrows. Many of the attacking archers were shot down and needed treatment.

One by one, the ladders were set up amidst the howls, and soldiers of the "New King's Army" charged towards the walls with curved swords. Due to an unwritten rule among the vampire clan, flying abilities were not used in clan wars. This prevented awkward situations where one side could instantly breach the castle, leading to the defenders rushing into the enemy camp.

As Dracula explained to Wang Yafu, a barrage of logs and stones rained down, causing their soldiers to fall from the ladders. A ladder was broken in half, and the soldiers aboard tumbled down like kites with severed strings.

The situation near the gate was also grim. When it came to things related to property security, Lao Wu could be very generous. For example, he didn't hesitate to spend a fortune on defensive war chariots. His subordinates often complained about the cost of these war chariots, wondering why he didn't purchase more useful equipment instead.

The war chariots were made of iron-plated steel, with a common horse-carriage body and a lion-shaped head. Inside, several strong vampire soldiers pushed the chariot forward, protected beneath the iron plating. When the chariot needed to attack, various flammable liquids placed in the lion's mouth would ignite when in contact with the powder thrown by the soldiers, shooting out a miniature flame jet. Depending on the lion head's adjustments, the high-temperature flames could cover the front, back, left, right, and above.

Faced with this technological obstacle, the attacking army did not advance, as they didn't want to become barbecued. On the defending side, squad leaders commanded their troops to form a long spear defense line.

When the soldiers of the "New King's Army" broke through the gate and faced the enemy spear formation, they launched a fierce assault like arrows. At the same time, the blood troops within the spear formation roared in unison, thrusting their long spears forward. In an instant, blood spattered, and the front line of over a hundred soldiers immediately retreated to the rear while injured.

This small success did not dampen the spirits of Lao Wu's tense subordinates. They continued to charge forward like a flood, roaring fiercely and displaying a remarkable momentum.

Due to the narrow terrain near the gate, the numerical advantage of the "New King's Army" couldn't be fully utilized, so both sides had to battle with equal forces. The archers from above continued shooting, and some soldiers from the "New King's Army" fell from being hit. Despite the casualties, the situation did not change.

As the battle continued, the defensive side gradually gained the upper hand, and there was no sign of the spear line collapsing.

On the other side, Dracula's men couldn't push forward anymore. After fifteen minutes of the attack, the number of injured soldiers in the "New King's Army" had reached over a thousand. Even without counting the casualties, the situation was severe, and the attacking side had not gained much.

Dracula was not ready to give up and prepared to issue a second command. However, this time, the word "attack" never left her mouth.

Wang Yafu, before the older sister issued the order, proposed to negotiate with the enemy, intending to end the war peacefully. Dracula thought the idea was naive but couldn't resist Wang Yafu's repeated pleas, so she agreed with conditions.

Dracula set a deadline for the negotiation, insisting it must be completed within twenty minutes. If it exceeded the time limit, there was no point in wasting time and they should promptly retreat. Wang Yafu had her own requirement:

"I can handle this mission on my own; Alice and the older sister don't need to come." There were some things Wang Yafu couldn't discuss with these two. If she brought them along for negotiation, "uncle" might make dangerous moves before they even spoke a word.

The best negotiator needed to be someone least likely to provoke Lao Wu. After excluding several candidates, it became clear that only Wang Yafu was suitable for this task.

As Wang Yafu emerged from the "New King's Army," she was unexpectedly not stopped by any enemy soldiers. Perhaps Lao Wu's subordinates treated her like an angel to this day.

Thus, without any hindrance, Wang Yafu reached the top floor of the castle and entered the deepest chamber. Lao Wu never expected his conniving subordinates to allow an enemy to come before him. He immediately took a few steps back, using his body to shield the stacked treasures behind him.

The current relationship between both sides was like an evil ogre approaching a defenseless little girl in a sealed room.

However, unlike that scenario, the scene was that of an innocent and cute little girl boldly approaching the wicked ogre. The ogre, instead of showing its expected horror, kept shouting, "Don't come near me, you terrifying demon! Don't you dare approach me, or I will call for help! Go away, quickly!"

Oh, what a crazy era.