There were bloodstains in many places, a chilling sight to behold.
"Is anyone there?" Gu Wanyin called out.
She was sitting in the carriage, so even if she shouted loudly, the vampires wouldn't hear her. She wasn't afraid of attracting them.
But others didn't know that.
Just after she called out, she heard a low, scolding voice: "Are you crazy? What are you shouting for? Aren't you afraid of the vampires? Quick, come in here, there's still some space for you to hide!"
Gu Wanyin turned to look.
There appeared to be a cellar over there.
The cellar was covered with a straw mat, which was now slightly lifted, and a small head poked out from inside, glaring at her.
It was a girl, thin, with a dirty face.
Gu Wanyin couldn't help but smile.
Although the girl's tone wasn't pleasant, it was only because she was too afraid of vampires, and her heart was in the right place since she was offering shelter.
Gu Wanyin got down from the carriage and asked, "How many people are in your cellar?"
"Why are you asking?" the girl questioned suspiciously.
"Don't misunderstand, I'm not a bad person," Gu Wanyin jumped down from the carriage and said, "I have a safer place I can take you all to, but you'll need gold, silver, jewels, and Blood Element Pearls to stay there."
"Stop joking!" the girl quickly replied, "Who could possibly get Blood Element Pearls? We're already thankful if the vampires don't kill us! Besides, if anyone had silver items, why would they give them to you? They'd definitely keep them for protection!"
"You don't need silver items! Other things like gold, diamonds, gems, antiques, anything like that will do!" Gu Wanyin hurriedly explained, "Plus, my shop sells silver items and garlic!"
"Re-really?" the girl's eyes widened, "I don't believe you. If you really have those things, would you actually sell them to us? Quick, come inside! If you don't come in now, I'm going to close the cellar door!"
Gu Wanyin thought she had no choice.
She coughed twice, trying her best to put on a serious face, and said, "At this point, I might as well be honest with you. Actually, I'm an angel."
The girl: "?"
Gu Wanyin was already so embarrassed she could dig a three-bedroom apartment with her toes, but for the sake of bringing customers back to the hotel, for her points and instant makeover feature, she still continued with a straight face, "God sent me down to earth to provide you humans with a sanctuary."
The girl was about to say "you're fooling around," when she saw snow-white wings slowly unfold behind Gu Wanyin.
Her eyes suddenly widened, pupils shaking.
At this moment, Gu Wanyin was truly grateful for her wings' built-in lighting effect.
It really looked convincing!
Gu Wanyin lifted slightly off the ground and looked down at the girl, asking, "Do you believe me now?"
The girl immediately scrambled out of the cellar, excitedly did three consecutive backflips, and then knelt before Gu Wanyin.
"Lady Angel!"
Gu Wanyin: "..."
That really wasn't necessary, sister!
She quickly bent down to help the girl up, saying seriously, "You mustn't kneel to me. We angels have rules - we can't randomly accept human worship. Only the Lord can receive such reverence! If you kneel to me again, I'll be punished!"
She wanted to establish her angelic identity so people wouldn't doubt her anymore.
She wasn't trying to take advantage of people...
"Oh, oh, I see! I'll listen to you!" the girl nodded vigorously, "Lady Angel, there are several more people in the cellar. I'll call them up right away!"
With that, the girl ducked back into the cellar.
After a while, the girl brought up two boys and two girls.
Including her, there were five in total.
They were all about the same age, appearing to be sixteen or seventeen.
Each one was skinny as a rail and covered in dirt.
Although the girl had already told them about the "angel," when they saw Gu Wanyin and her wings, they were still utterly shocked.
Seeing that everything was in order, Gu Wanyin retracted her wings and said, "Get in the carriage quickly. This carriage will keep you safe; vampires can't harm you in it."
"Yes, Lady Angel!"
They all climbed into the carriage one by one.
The system's task was to bring back three customers, and now she had exceeded that goal.
However, because all five boys and girls were so thin, there was still quite a bit of space in the carriage.
Gu Wanyin asked, "Are there any other people in town?"
"We don't know..."
"Ever since the vampires appeared, we've been hiding in the cellar almost constantly."
They explained everything to Gu Wanyin in a jumble of voices.
It turned out that all five of them lived in this town and had grown up together as playmates.
Actually, even before the vampires came to Cateros Town, people had vaguely heard rumors about vampires.
But everyone thought it was too far-fetched - how could there possibly be vampires?
So no one took it seriously, and everyone continued living their simple lives. Even when someone occasionally suggested that vampires might be real, they didn't pay attention.
They would never forget that twilight.
This cellar belonged to Backflip Girl's family, used for storing sweet potatoes and vegetables.
That day, they were craving snacks and wanted to get some sweet potatoes from the cellar to roast.
Unexpectedly, just as they entered the cellar, they heard screaming outside.
They cautiously peeked out and saw countless vampires attacking the town under the blood-red sunset, like an impenetrable net trapping everyone inside.
The townspeople were completely unprepared.
Even if they had been prepared, they were no match for the vampires.
The five of them could only hide in the cellar, listening to people screaming and wailing outside.
Their hearts were bleeding, but they could do nothing.
Finally, after the commotion outside had been quiet for a long time, they dared to peek out of the cellar.
Many people had been drained of blood and died, while others had been taken away by the vampires.
Besides them, there were about seven or eight survivors in town.
They hurriedly buried the bodies together, then each went into hiding.
Because they didn't know when the vampires might appear again.
"We've been hiding in the cellar the whole time, not knowing where the others went."
"Even though we rationed our food carefully, we still ran out yesterday."
"Thankfully you came, Lady Angel, or we might have starved to death, or been killed by vampires while searching for food."
"The people who were taken by vampires back then must be dead by now..."
"My father, mother, and little sister..."
Seeing their mood becoming increasingly downcast, Gu Wanyin changed the subject, saying, "The place I'm taking you to is called a hotel. Do you have any gold, silver, or jewels? Without these things, you won't be able to stay at my hotel."
"We don't have any... but we could look around town."
"Yes, vampires aren't interested in these things. Except for silver items which they destroy, they don't take anything else."
