We agreed to seek enlightenment together, but how did you end up seeking enlightenment for my mother

"This is truly a story full of twists and turns."

Xu Zhou sat at the table, straightened his back, and clapped his hands.

In just over ten minutes, the butler recounted the story of Earl Lionheart's impoverished noble origins, his knighthood, his life as a lone lord with only ten squires, and his triumphs over the forces of darkness, ultimately making him a legend in the kingdom.

Finally, the narrative shifts, focusing on this figure with such outstanding achievements, who ultimately suffered the loss of all his children and lived a lonely old age, a truly regrettable end.

The freckled maid was right; the butler was indeed happy to share the Earl's past. However, given how vividly he recounted the story, Xu Zhou felt an urge to pay for it.

So he offered free praise.

"Your loyalty and professionalism are admirable."

"I've been with the master for a long time."

The butler's smile was exceptionally bright, and whenever the Earl of Lionheart was mentioned, his cloudy eyes seemed to clear for a moment.

"I've watched him grow step by step to where he is today, and I've naturally been inspired by his loyalty to humanity and his courage in the face of dark creatures. The Master is a role model for all of us."

Xu Zhou nodded, and began to reconsider the relationship between the butler and the Earl.

"Alright, Mr. Butler, I've gotten the gossip I wanted to hear, and I've confirmed that Miss Luo Qiu isn't here. It seems it's time to part ways."

"Handsome sir, I also want to thank you."

The butler smiled and got up, then walked to the door to wait, a professional habit he had developed over many years.

"It's been a long time since I've had such a long, heart-to-heart talk with someone."

When Xu Zhou first met the steward, he originally intended to take the opportunity to inquire about the treasure vault and the treasures, but after the exchange just now, he had a new idea in mind.

He had just stood up when the butler opened the door a crack.

Xu Zhou strolled toward the door, casually asking a question as he went.

When did Luo Qiu die?

"Three months ago." The housekeeper replied subconsciously.

The air fell silent for a moment.

Xu Zhou subtly placed his hand on the hilt of the knife at his lower back, narrowed his eyes, and his expression gradually became solemn. The butler's expression also visibly darkened.

"You know what? I hate clever brats like you the most," the butler said coldly.

"It seems you understand that I won't accept explanations like 'saying the wrong thing.'" Xu Zhou shrugged and chuckled. "Since you love telling stories so much, why don't you tell me what the Earl is planning tonight?"

The butler did not answer immediately, but gently closed the door again.

He raised his hand to take off his glasses, slowly wiped the lenses with his collar, and put them back in his breast pocket.

"You know the rules. If you want it, then do it yourself—"

Whoosh!

Before the butler could finish speaking, the short knife bound with Zhenyan's hair was swiftly thrust out from under Xu Zhou's black robe, aiming straight for his throat.

However, the butler moved with astonishing speed, easily dodging the trajectory of the flying knife with a twist of his neck. But Xu Zhou only slightly adjusted his wrist, and Zhenyan's hair changed direction in mid-air, the tip of the knife biting the target again.

Seeing that there was no time to dodge, a dagger instantly slid out from the butler's sleeve. With a flash of cold light, a sharp metallic clang exploded in the room.

Clang!

The throwing knife was deflected, and Zhenyan's hair also tilted to one side.

Xu Zhou frowned. The strength of the True Words Hair had been proven in actual combat, and even Wu Lulu could not easily shake it. He never expected that this seemingly old man could send him flying with brute force.

This shows that he is another expert in physical cultivation.

Unlike Chifeng's method of strengthening his physical body by borrowing external power, this is a pure and fundamental physical power rooted in himself.

Xu Zhou remained silent, his wrist twitching repeatedly. The throwing knife traced a half-arc in mid-air before suddenly rising from its ground-hugging position and stabbing out at an extremely tricky angle.

The housekeeper, instead of retreating, advanced.

He precisely seized the moment Xu Zhou made his move, and his calf almost grazed the blade as he took a step forward, instantly reducing the distance between them to less than two meters.

An inch shorter, an inch more dangerous.

The dagger whistled through the air as it slashed from the side. Xu Zhou retreated in succession to dodge three frontal attacks, but this was his limit.

As the blade tip grazed his forehead, he could even feel the unique chill of the metal.

Now that we've figured out the limits of our own abilities, there's no point in continuing to entangle ourselves with this.

It's time to use superpowers.

At the same moment, outside the door.

Lanzhi crossed her arms and looked at the door that opened and closed, a hint of resentment on her face.

"What do you mean, are you going to chat all night? Why don't you two men just sleep together?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a loud explosion erupted in front of them.

boom!

The wall shattered with a loud crash. Lan Zhi caught a glimpse of a figure flying out of the corner of her eye, followed by a dull thud from the wall of the corridor behind her.

She turned her head and saw that the butler's mouth was full of blood, his chest was caved in, and he was lying in the corner with his limbs twitching slightly, looking quite miserable.

"Why are they hitting so hard? Could it be that they couldn't agree on the front and back positions?" Lan Zhi couldn't help but speak her mind.

Xu Zhou slowly walked out of the dust and mist, gently brushing the dust off his shoulders.

"If you keep saying such weird things, I'm going to test my orientation on you."

Lan Zhi decisively shut her mouth, pinched her fingers and drew a line in front of her lips, then moved behind Xu Zhou, trying her best to minimize her presence.

As Xu Zhou approached, the butler's body convulsed even more violently, his head swayed involuntarily from side to side, and he shakily raised his hand to try to stop him.

"Sir...cough cough, sir...I want to report the Earl! Cough cough...please don't kill me!"

The iron golem's punch unexpectedly brought out the butler's kind nature.

Xu Zhou was too lazy to listen to the other party's nonsense. With Zhenyan's hair in hand, he naturally had a more efficient question-and-answer process.

Golden threads emerged from his wrist and quickly bound the butler tightly. He wasn't worried that Lan Zhi would see the effects of the True Word Hair, since this thing was used very frequently and exposure was only a matter of time.

"Listen up, I'll ask you a question, you answer it. If you say even half a word more, I'll kill you!" Xu Zhou glared at him.

"Yes, yes, sir, I'll do whatever you say," the butler replied repeatedly with a mournful face.

"What is the connection between Luo Qiu's death and the Earl's pursuit of immortality?"

"The master... wants to revive Miss Luo Qiu."

"So she's a tragic character?" Xu Zhou couldn't help but laugh, then asked, "Why would sacrificing us all bring Luo Qiu back to life?"

"Because this is a necessary part of the sacrificial ritual, I don't know the underlying principles."

The second half of the sentence was revealed by the butler himself, which shows that this ritual was not created by humans. Combined with the various information obtained before, it is highly likely that it was a method obtained from dark creatures.

Now the truth becomes clear.

The so-called banquet at the Black Forest Mansion was nothing more than a trap to sacrifice the guests.

The purpose of this hide-and-seek game to find the youngest daughter was simply to separate the challengers, giving the count and his followers the opportunity to defeat them one by one.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the Earl's combat strength ceiling is likely the sum of the surface data of the four teams.

Realizing this, Xu Zhou's anxiety finally subsided.

He wasn't arrogant enough to think he could take on four people at once. Cooperation was clearly unavoidable; otherwise, once the Earl got the help of the side boss, none of the four teams in the mansion would have made it out alive.

"I have another question: how do I open the mansion's treasury?"