16 Here Comes the Opportunity

And just like that, Ye Ming settled down in Marquis Harland's castle. Every day, he patrolled, slept, then patrolled and slept some more. During this period he kept racking his brain for an excuse to go to the inner castle, but he ended up rejecting all the excuses that came to mind one by one. Either the excuse was not convincing enough, or the risk of exposure was too high.

While Ye Ming was at a loss, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity presented itself. One day, guard captain Ali personally came to the separated courtyard and shouted at the guards to assemble.

Everyone was surprised to see this. They knew that something big must have happened.

"Rafi, take your men and follow me to the inner castle right away," he ordered.

"What happened, sir?" asked Rafi.

"An assassin tried to assassinate Marquis Harland, but I discovered him and foiled his plan. I'm sure he's still hiding in the inner castle. Bring your men there and conduct a thorough search," replied Ali. Ye Ming noticed that, besides being pale, Ali's face also had a conspicuous wound on it. He must have been injured by that assassin.

But Ye Ming was not the least bit concerned about these things. What he cared more about was the rare opportunity to go to the inner castle. He secretly rejoiced. 'Finally, a legitimate chance to enter the inner castle. And the purpose is actually to conduct a search. This chance is simply perfect. I can use this opportunity to wander around the inner castle unhindered to search for treasure chests.'

"Let's go," said Ali. The squad immediately set off for the inner castle. Ye Ming followed at the back of the formation and brazenly headed towards the forbidden zone.

"Everybody form a team of two and conduct a thorough search." Ali left after giving out the order. Squad leader Rafi turned around and said, "Team up by yourself. Make sure you find the assassin."

"Yes, sir."

The squad formed duos and went their separate ways to search. Ye Ming did not take the initiative to team up with someone. 'It'll be great if I can act alone. It'll be more convenient,' thought Ye Ming. Surprisingly, he got his wish. Because he was new, he was not too familiar with the other guards, so no one came up to him to team up with him. He ended up being ignored and forgotten.

And thus, Ye Ming simply walked into the inner castle without anyone paying him any mind.

He first came to the main hall of the inner castle, where the decorations were unusually fancy. Right at the middle of the hall hung a portrait of Marquis Harland, his hawk-like eyes staring at Ye Ming.

Ye Ming moved to another position to look at the portrait from another angle and found that the eyes of the portrait seemed to follow him. It reminded him of Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, the Mona Lisa. Rumors had it that no matter which angle a person viewed the painting from, it would appear to them that lady Mona Lisa's smile was directed at them.

"Could the person who painted this portrait be Da Vinci?" wondered Ye Ming under his breath. Of course, that was just a brief interlude. Ye Ming would not be scared away by a mere painting; it did not even stir up any guilt in his heart. After all, he was not here to steal anything, just taking something no one else could see.

Ye Ming carefully searched the main hall and finally stumbled upon a treasure chest behind a column.

*Ding* [Congratulations, you have found a golden treasure chest.]

Ye Ming happily walked over, only to hear someone questioning him from behind. "Oi, you idiot! Does that look like a hiding place to you?"

Ye Ming immediately recognized the owner of the voice as squad leader Rafi. He instantly turned around and answered, "Sir, the more unlikely a place looks, the more carefully we should search it. What if he's hiding on top of the column?"He took a few steps back, tilted his head, and stared at the top of the column with a serious look on his face. He even circled around the column to look at it from other angles.

"Okay, fine. If you think there's a chance he's hiding there then keep searching," said Rafi. He then turned away, muttering, "What a dumbass."

Ye Ming bent down to pick up the treasure chest and proceeded to open it.

*Ding* [Congratulations, you have obtained a drop of Count Blood Essence and a Viscount Fang.]

Putting away the material and Blood Essence, he did not dilly-dally. He climbed the stairs to the second floor.

He entered a room, and the first thing that greeted him was a whiff of fragrant aroma. "It smells nice here. This must be a female Vampire's room."

He went in and searched under the bed, in the fireplace, around the dressing table – every corner of the room, he inspected carefully. He finally came to a closet. He pulled open a drawer and found it full of women's underwear. Almost instinctively, he picked up a bra, only to hear a voice remarking flatly, "Do you really think the assassin could be hiding in that drawer?"

Ye Ming awkwardly turned his head around and found a beautiful female Vampire staring at him. With an expressionless face, he said in a serious tone, "Anything is possible, my lady. Some people have amazing acrobatic skills that enable them to fold their body in unimaginable ways, making it possible to hide in this drawer. I'm doing this to ensure your safety."

"You fool! Even if the assassin has the skills to do that, how did he close the drawer? Tell me."

"Uh..." Ye Ming had no answer. He quickly put down the bra and said, "I'm sorry, my lady. I didn't think that far." After saying that, he turned around and left the room in a hurry.

"Dammit, I shouldn't have touched women's stuff." Ye Ming proceeded to sneak into all the other rooms on the second floor, but found nothing.

He moved to the stairs to go to the third floor. At the stairs, he ran into Gasso and another guard coming down from upstairs.

When Gasso saw that Ye Ming was about to go upstairs, he said, "We've already searched every corner up there. You don't have to go there anymore."

Ye Ming stopped in his track. "Really?"

"Yeah," answered Gasso. He rushed downstairs with his partner without sparing Ye Ming a second glance.

Ye Ming just stood there and watched them go down. He then turned around and continued heading upstairs.

"You guys may have searched that floor, but I haven't."

Ye Ming repeated his routine on the third floor. He entered each room in turn and carefully searched around. He did not even forget to search underneath the Blood Coffins he found.

His hard work paid off. He found three silver chests on the third floor. But what he got from them were just some low-level materials.

He arrived at the last room on the third floor. After pushing the door open, what he saw was a magnificent study. Bookshelves as tall as three meters lined up every part of the study. There was even a set of ladder at the side. This must be Marquis Harland's study.

The moment Ye Ming stepped inside, he already heard the system notification go off, which gave him much joy.

*Ding* [Congratulations, you have discovered a treasure chest!]

Ye Ming searched carefully and finally found the treasure chest hidden behind the desk.

[Congratulations, you have discovered a platinum treasure chest!]

"Holy moly, a platinum treasure chest! This is awesome! Open it, quick."

The platinum treasure chest was opened. An ancient book was lying quietly inside.

[Congratulations, you have obtained the {Blood Demon Body Technique} manual.]

Ye Ming could not be any happier. He finally found a physical combat skillbook! Putting away the manual, he quickly left the study.

At that moment, he heard someone shouting at the guards to assemble below. He had no time to think about it and quickly ran downstairs.

When the squad leader saw that everyone had arrived, he led them to another place to continue with the search.