murder poppy

The villa hidden in the deep forest, like its owner, reveals the loneliness and indifference of being isolated from the world. The moonlight and tree shadows through the windows are covered with a layer of peace and desolation.

Although the owner is a weird old fox, Andre has to admit that this place is much warmer than the dead castle in the jungle.

But tonight, there was an anxious and hesitant figure in the long and narrow corridor.

"Mr. Matthew has turned around here for the fifth time." The full moon passed through the window, and the moon's white was clear and gentle, illuminating a group of creatures with ears and claws a little mysteriously.

Andre grabbed the beam, and the two exposed small fangs reflected light unconsciously, showing impatience.

Before dawn, Andre, with the acquiescence of the "righteous" hunter Lyons, planted a seed of doubt in Matthew's heart.He didn't have too many rhetoric or descriptions, but a simple sentence "Manda hates your partner", without evidence, without facts, it seems that the listener intends.

Matthew answered righteously, but judging from the number of times he wandered the hallway tonight, he was obviously the one who wanted to listen.

The villa is filled with many formations, with mixed smells, most of which are not good for Andre, so Andre, who discerned Matthew's movements, breathed a lot of fresh air in the house.

"Wait a little longer." Around the bat's neck was a "necklace" made of paper, which was roughly twisted and hung on the gray fur. The voice came from inside.

A small formation is drawn on the piece of paper, which has a short timeliness. The advantage is that it is simple and difficult to detect.

Waste humans who cannot become the target of bat tracking can only rely on this for message communication.

The hesitant Matthew seemed to have received the resentment of the bat on the beam, and heaved a long sigh. He took out the dagger he carried and drew a line on his palm. The blood dripped on the ground, and soon accumulated a small puddle.

Matthew frowned, his face solemn, and finally printed his blood-stained palm on the wall of the corridor.

A bloody handprint with too much force appeared on the elegant wallpaper, ticking down.

There was a crack in the seamless wall, and the mechanism was exquisite and complicated. When it turned, there was only a slight sound of gears, and the bat's eyes suddenly stopped.

"Another fish was caught." The little bat's round eyes swept over the moving wall, staring at a dark corner, "Lynes, five o'clock direction."

Hunters are by no means passive species. Even if they can't hang on beams or windows like Andre because of their size, Lions will follow Matthew in places where he can hide his identity.As soon as Andre's voice sounded, Lions looked over immediately.

In the dark night, the corner of the corridor is dark, the moonlight cannot illuminate, and the candles have long been extinguished.Lyons saw an off-white fluffy skirt in the corner, which matched Manda's clothes when they said goodbye to them.

"One for each person?" The little bat tilted its head and suggested.

Even though the bat is small in size and has tiny fluff, and Zhou Zheng's facial features and ears add a lot of cuteness and handsomeness to it, Lioness can still feel a little fear of chaos in the world from these four words and that overly "kind" smile. sly.

Lyons closed his eyes, suppressed the weird idea of ​​suddenly wanting to keep a bat as a pet, and said coldly: "Not one."

The bat was far away on the window sill, drooping the corners of its mouth facing the bright white moonlight, and the woman in the corner turned to the hunter's hiding place with her exploring eyes.

Matthew carefully observed the surroundings, and quickly dodged into the secret room after confirming that there was no change.Years of war made Matthew habitually lighten his steps and breathe. In the quiet atmosphere, it seemed that only the air around him was flowing.

This is the bottom line after he has retreated and evaded countless times, it is always safer.

The skirt in the corner stood still for five seconds, and then drifted like a gust of wind towards the unclosed secret room.

Lighter and more familiar than the battle-hardened Matthew.

That's not how humans should behave.

Andre immediately turned his attention to the woman who was talking to him during the day. The air was clean and cool, with the smell of grass and flowers, without the decadent blood and greed.

Not blood.

Andre judged.

This judgment did not depend on the bat on the beam. Under the moonlight, he clearly saw the ghostly woman with scarlet eyes, treacherous and ferocious face, and the soft skirt fabric swaying with her movements, but only created There was a friction sound that matched the sound of the wind.

"Follow." Lyons said in a deep voice, then rushed out of his hiding place and entered the secret room.

Due to the distance and angle of view, Lions didn't notice Manda's abnormality too much, and finally felt a little strange after entering the secret passage.

It's too quiet here, and Matthew, who is far away, has two humans and a bat here, and even if he is depressed, there will be breathing.However, at this moment, Lions slowed down his heartbeat, and there was nothing but the sound of his own breathing.

There is a narrow and long secret passage hidden behind the corridor, the decoration is simple and there is no decoration.The dusty walls are inlaid with rustic candlesticks, and a few half-dead flames are burning.

There is a distance of more than ten steps between Manda and Matthew, not too many steps, not too many steps, every movement is very precise, and the insignificant voice is also drowned in the sound of Matthew's own footsteps and breathing.

After traveling like this for about 5 minutes, Matthew stopped in front of a stone gate.

The tranquility that belonged to the villa disappeared, and the space on the side, the gloomy tone, made the stone gate heavy.

The wound on Matthew's hand was deep and could not heal completely in a short time. He pressed his palm on the stone gate again, and complex patterns emerged on the entire stone gate, with a bloody handprint as seductive as a ruby ​​in the center.

The stone door opened slowly, and Manda, who was like a ghost, smelled the scent of the prey, and the fluttering skirt turned into an arrow that flew off the string, and the whole person flew into the secret room.

Matthew, who had been facing away from them all the time, seemed to have eyes behind his back. He jumped away, and the stone door that opened a gap lost its luster in an instant, and closed with a "boom".

"Manda!?" Matthew flashed the attack with a killing intent in his eyes for a moment, and became surprised and confused after seeing the person coming.

The flickering candlelight illuminates half of Manda's face. Her facial lines are still soft, but with a piercing smile, her eyes are bloodshot, and she looks at Matthew with appreciation and pity.

Matthew is no stranger to such eyes. He has never seen such eyes on the stage of the theater or on the bed of a prostitute, but he has experienced the baptism of similar eyes countless times on the battlefield full of wailing and killing.

Seeing delicious prey, the vampires are usually not stingy with their kindness.

Manda has no fangs, no blood-red eyes and nails, but Matthew's intuition tells him that standing in front of him is not the lover he has been with day and night, but a greedy and cunning vampire.

"Blood, the key." Manda gazed tenderly at the clean stone gate and sighed softly.

Matthew took out the dagger from the back of his cut left hand.

Years of war had taught him one thing, to fight malice first.Even if that person is your lover, friend, relative, or companion.

In the era of rampant blood clans, betrayal is just a first embrace.

"Since you two are here, you don't need to go to the theater anymore." Matthew said suddenly, waiting closely for Manda and Shimen.

"You seem to be able to do anything with ease," Andre stepped out of the darkness generously, meeting Matthew's eyes, "I'm sorry to bother you."

"Is Mrs. Manda's usual abnormality also like this?" Reins was also not ashamed or embarrassed, and at the same time he did not tease or joke, and asked directly.

Manda tilted his neck to look at the two uninvited guests, smiled with interest and said, "A vampire, a hunter?"

Andre looked at this woman who was no longer gentle, and even revealed a charming and flirtatious woman, and suddenly thought of a sentence in the consulting room.

- "'She' hasn't appeared in a long time."

Silverware and bibles can only be used to guard against vampires, who are vampires?Manda?Doctor Tian?Or the unknown "she"?

Vampires cannot rely on human bodies to survive, let alone souls. Andre frowned and looked at Manda. The other party took his gaze with ease, and even smiled sweetly.

Hunters and vampires are more sensitive to breath than ordinary people. Manda is Manda. Her unique calm fragrance and the sweet and sour smell of borscht are both unique.

The confrontation continued in silence, and Andre smelled a faint sense of anxiety and fatigue. Manda's long eyelashes drooped, she turned her head to look at Matthew affectionately, and murmured: "They treat you very badly. ".

The "throne" woven by the beige embroidered skirt collapsed suddenly, and Matthew was stunned for a moment, then reflexively picked up the fainted Manda. He deliberately avoided the injured left hand, and the blood did not pollute Manda's skirt.

Lyons looked at the calm Shimen and the pale Manda, and said, "I think we need to talk, Mr. Matthew."

Matthew was noncommittal, and after carefully inspecting the secret room, he sent Manda back to the room, lit the usual incense, and arranged a sleep formation, before asking Lyons and Andre to go to the study to discuss matters.

Since Lyons made the suggestion of "talking", he has no actual action to talk, and has been quiet and serious all the way.

For Matthew, the accident tonight was a sudden disaster, but for Lyons and Andre, it was a good opportunity to obtain information.

Therefore, the hunter is not in a bad mood, and his performance at this time is not so much dissatisfaction as it is... bluffing.

Matthew only knew what was wrong, his eyes stayed on the stacks of books with frayed edges and torn pages in the study, and he said, "Array masters have always been talents valued by the royal family."

"The blood race is powerful and cunning. Human beings have fallen from the throne of hunting beasts and become the targets of the blood race. The gap in species talent makes the battle difficult and hopeless. Wizards and priests are the key to turning the tide of battle."

"During the war, I have been running around to study formations. There are countless magical formations recorded in ancient books, which can effectively fight against blood races. These magics bestowed by God are sacred weapons in times of war, but they represent greed and power in peaceful times. .” Matthew’s voice was full of vicissitudes and emotion.

Lyons listened quietly. This was a war and history he was not familiar with, and he needed to respect it.

On the other hand, Andre glanced at the weeping Matthew coldly, with a hint of sarcasm hanging from the corner of his mouth.

The greed of human beings is no worse than that of vampires.

After the war, the desire for power, money, and longevity grows like a dodder, and the higher the position, the more you want.

"I have a translated law book. In order to fight against the blood race, I have studied many forbidden laws. Most of them hurt the enemy one thousand and self-damaged eight hundred. After the war subsided, I hid this book. The royal family gave me a noble title and rewards, besides that, they asked me for one more thing, they wanted the book full of forbidden laws."

Matthew is unwilling to hand over the book that records the dangerous formation to the royal family. He knows how many wolf-minded lunatics there are in the royal family. In order to avoid his resignation, he retains a dispensable title of nobleman and wants to gradually fade out of power their vision.

It is impossible for the royal family to give up so easily, so they came to harass several times, and even placed Matthew under house arrest and search under the pretext of investigating the case. This is the source of Manda's resentment towards his "partners".

Andre looked at the somewhat depressed man in front of him, there was no taste of lies.He raised the corner of his mouth and asked softly, "Why don't you destroy that book, Mr. Matthew."