Chapter 255 - 251: Chakus’s "Bloodline Power

Chapter 255: Chapter 251: Chakus’s "Bloodline Power

That night, the light rain from the day intensified into a downpour, raging amidst the thunder and lightning.

Hilbert sat on his bed, his mind unable to quiet for even a moment.

’Who were those mysterious people from earlier today? What was their connection to Father and the Chakus Clan?’

’Why did they say they were old acquaintances of the Chakus Clan, and not of Grandfather or Father?’

’And what did they mean by, "For someone of the Chakus Clan’s bloodline to die of a heart attack is truly inconceivable!"?’

’Grandpa Corini said the Chakus family was a great one, with a long and storied history.’

’Father had always been so proud of his title, Baron Chakus. Was it really just for a minor noble title? Or was it because of the Chakus Clan’s bloodline?’

Hilbert Chakus suddenly realized that despite receiving a nobleman’s education from a young age and growing up in the family’s atmosphere, he had never truly understood his own family.

He had spent his childhood and adolescence resenting his father’s stern rigidity. But now, he realized he didn’t understand his father at all, nor did he know anything about the origins of the Chakus Clan.

He suddenly felt that the strict environment of his childhood was likely his father’s greatest act of leniency—so lenient that he never even learned of the secrets the Chakus Clan might hold!

But regardless of the Chakus Clan’s origins, the visit from the mysterious people earlier had strengthened a suspicion Hilbert had long held.

"Father absolutely did not die of natural causes!"

He muttered to himself, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the bedsheets.

’To think I actually compromised, that I believed that towering, broad-shouldered figure could be brought down by a simple heart attack!’

Once he accepted this viewpoint that he had suspected deep down all along, Hilbert’s curiosity and thirst for knowledge exploded.

Along with the desire to find out the cause of his father’s death, he felt a strange sense of excitement.

’We were only a baronial family, yet we owned vast properties even before the new era. And why had the family always been so low-key?’

’What were the family origins Grandpa Corini mentioned? And why didn’t even he recognize those two mysterious people?’

The more he recalled and reflected, the more he felt that the Chakus Clan was likely no ordinary family.

’Why weren’t those two wet from the rain? Was it because their clothes were made of waterproof material?’

’No! Waterproof material would just make the water bead and roll off; it wouldn’t leave them bone-dry. Not to mention, even their hair wasn’t wet.’

In fact, Hilbert had realized during the day that the two who had come to mourn his father in the rain were likely not ordinary mortals!

It was just that years of his education had made him subconsciously deny this possibility, until his thoughts erupted in the dead of night.

He wasn’t worried about not seeing the two again. Hilbert believed that they would definitely appear again tomorrow at his father’s burial!

...

Even Qin Xiaoxia hadn’t expected that, before his "guidance," Hilbert—the sole remaining direct bloodline of the Chakus Clan—was already unwilling to believe his father had died of a heart attack.

His conviction was so strong that the effect of a slight nudge was unexpectedly good.

However, Qin Xiaoxia hadn’t actually said that after careful thought. It was because when he saw Old Chakus’s body, he had indeed felt something strange.

There was no sense of Magic Power, no special energy. If he had to describe it, it was just a feeling of disharmony, like when he saw that huge map of Dawn.

But the perplexing thing was, Qin Xiaoxia didn’t consider himself to have a demon-attracting constitution, and it was unlikely for Su Su either. It couldn’t be that they’d just stumble upon some random place and run into an uninvited guest from the Otherworld, right?

The feeling was a bit unpleasant, even giving him the illusion that Old Chakus’s death was somehow his fault. Of course, he knew that was highly unlikely.

To be safe, he had deliberately planted a hint using Spiritual Power when he made eye contact with Hilbert, a technique he learned from the Red Demoness’s trick on Xiao Lili at the restaurant.

Because just before leaving, Qin Xiaoxia had realized what the possible cause of the disharmony on the corpse was, and it was just what he needed to set some things in motion.

Since he didn’t have a Sea Siren’s talent, it was impossible to make someone "sleepwalk" like that freak, the Red Demoness. But he could still bury a subtle trace of Magic Power in Hilbert’s psyche for a short time.

This was more than enough. Qin Xiaoxia didn’t need the man to be muddled; it’s the conclusions a person draws for themself, with a clear head, based on what they see and hear, that lead to unshakeable belief.

...

RUMBLE~

A sudden clap of thunder startled Hilbert awake. He realized he had fallen asleep at some point without knowing.

The rain outside hadn’t stopped, showing no signs of letting up.

It was a little chilly. He had no desire to stay up any later, so out of long-standing habit, he decided to wash up before going back to bed.

Although the ancestral home was fitted with modern electrical equipment, the layout of the rooms couldn’t be changed. The bathroom was at the other end of the second-floor hallway, past the staircase.

He checked the time on his phone. It was already two in the morning.

He opened the door. The hallway was shrouded in darkness, only illuminated by the occasional flash of lightning.

Familiar with the layout, Hilbert didn’t turn on a light, heading straight for the bathroom. As he passed the top of the stairs, he paused.

’The light in the memorial hall is supposed to be on. Why is it pitch-black downstairs?’

’Did lightning fry the circuit?’

He looked at his phone. The Wi-Fi signal was still displayed perfectly on the screen, which meant the power wasn’t out.

Frowning, Hilbert flipped on the staircase light, went directly downstairs, and passed through a doorway into the memorial hall.

With a CLICK, the lights came on.

His father lay peacefully in the coffin, surrounded by fresh flowers that were still blooming vibrantly in their soil.

After sitting in the memorial hall for a while, Hilbert went to the upstairs bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face.

But as he passed the top of the stairs again, he noticed the light downstairs was off once more.

A SCREEE... came from downstairs, a sound eerily like sharp nails scraping against aluminum. Hilbert felt goosebumps rise on his skin.

SCRAAAPE...

The second sound made him shudder involuntarily.

The sound was unbearable. Anxious about the memorial hall, Hilbert flicked on the light and ran downstairs.

He turned the lights in the memorial hall on again. The room was just as it had been.

...

Far from Chakus Manor, two figures in black stood in the rain. Through the distant curtain of rain, they could still see the ground-floor lights of the large house switching off and on.

"Mentor, will he be in danger?"

Su Su seemed a little worried.

"Relax. It’s just some insignificant thing. The bloodline of the Chakus Clan isn’t as fragile as you think!"

As Qin Xiaoxia spoke, his eyes darted around as if searching for something.

’Old Chakus’s death is definitely suspicious. I just don’t know where the real mastermind is.’

This made Su Su nervous, but the thought that her Mentor was there immediately put her at ease.

Qin Xiaoxia had indeed created this rain. The purpose wasn’t to set the mood, and certainly not just for fun. It was because the strange feeling he got from the Old Baron’s corpse reminded him of a weak, Half-Yin Spirituality monster.

The Soul-Devouring Monster.

The name sounded formidable, but they were actually weak creatures of low intelligence. Only after a living being died would they dare approach the remains or places where Yin Spirits dissipated, trying to snatch a wisp of the residual soul from the corpse.

The disharmony on Old Chakus’s body was actually the mark of a weak Soul-Devouring Monster. It meant that a Soul-Devouring Monster knew this person was about to die and had left a mark in advance.

However, the human soul and body are far stronger than a Soul-Devouring Monster, so the mark is easily neutralized and dissolved by the person’s own soul and body, leaving only a faint, imperceptible, special odor.

Su Su would find it hard to believe if he told her how a Demon could be so pathetic. They were even afraid of light. While light couldn’t cause them any real harm, they knew many other creatures were active during the day.

Damp, dark, rainy nights were the Soul-Devouring Monster’s favorite conditions for activity.

Weak creatures often have their own unique traits. The Soul-Devouring Monster could extract elements of the soul from a corpse’s residual soul. Not much, but always a trace.

This soul-substance was difficult to extract even for some powerful Magic Controllers, but for the Soul-Devouring Monster, it was a natural talent. Thus, they were often controlled by more powerful Demons for their own use.

Seeing Su Su’s anxious expression, Qin Xiaoxia chuckled.

"It’s also possible there’s no mastermind at all, and I’m just overthinking it."

But even if there weren’t any other Demons, the appearance of just a Soul-Devouring Monster at Chakus Manor was quite a coincidence. Qin Xiaoxia couldn’t help but look up at the sky and then down at the ground, his thoughts unreadable.

...

"Who? Who’s there?"

He called out twice with no response.

In the light, Hilbert looked at his father’s coffin, but this time, something seemed wrong.

His gaze sharpened. It wasn’t the coffin that was wrong, it was the flowers beside it!

It wasn’t obvious, but some of the flowers on the left and right sides looked a bit wilted, which stood out in contrast to the others that were still in full, vibrant bloom.

Fear began to creep into his heart, and all the suspicions about his father’s unnatural death came flooding back.

’Is this a paranormal event?’

He left the memorial hall uneasily and went back upstairs. But he didn’t return to his room, waiting silently in the dark hallway instead.

’Maybe I should wake Mother or some of the servants?’

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the lights downstairs went out again.

Hilbert didn’t wake anyone. Instead, he crept quietly downstairs in the dark. He didn’t turn on the light or make a sound.

Tiptoeing to the archway, he first glanced toward the dining room, then peered quietly through the opening into the memorial hall.

SCREE... SCREE...

Goosebumps erupted all over his body, not just from the sound, but from what he saw: perched on his father’s coffin inside the memorial hall were two pale, translucent monsters.

They looked a bit like deformed monkeys, but without tails, and their long arms ended in grotesque hands with sharp nails.

Hilbert’s breathing grew rapid, and his body began to tremble slightly.

The two monsters were currently digging into the coffin, their hands passing right through the glass lid as if it wasn’t there.

The SCREEE... sound made Hilbert break out in even more goosebumps.

Suddenly, a strange courage rose from the bottom of his heart, as if he had found his father’s killers. Hilbert charged into the memorial hall.

"It was you! You killed my father, didn’t you? You filthy Evil Spirits!!"

The two Soul-Devouring Monsters seemed extremely startled.

"HNK!!!" "REEE!!!"

They each let out a terrified shriek, leaped off the coffin, and fled with incredible agility.

Hilbert’s anger flared.

"You think you can run?! Pay for what you did to my father! RAAAGH!!!"

Everything became a blur. SWOOSH—

He seemed to cross a huge distance in an instant. One moment he was in the archway, the next he had caught up to one of the Soul-Devouring Monsters already at the fireplace in the main hall.

"Go to hell!"

He threw a punch! Without a weapon, it was the only form of attack Hilbert could think of.

BANG—

His fist suddenly glowed with a blue light, and all the ash in the fireplace shuddered from the impact.

"Gaaah..."

With a short, strange, wretched cry, the Soul-Devouring Monster was instantly shattered, leaving behind a pool of pale, foul-smelling liquid.

After this outburst, intense muscle soreness and fatigue washed over him. Hilbert was too weak to move, and could only watch helplessly as the other monster scrambled out through an open window. It seemed they couldn’t pass through walls completely after all.

Lingering fear, terror, doubt, strangeness, excitement...

Aching all over, Hilbert’s mind was subsequently consumed by these complex emotions.

’What were those things just now? Why could I...’