Ultimately, the four guardian clans were complete and they could all scheme up a plan hopefully to get rid of the monsters, conceal the portal and capture the culprit.
They all proceeded to seat at the long rectangular dining that extended from one end of the room to the other when a new dawn arose, but still they didn't occupy half of the seats.
Zhulong's golden eyes caught sight of Wenglei whom he hadn't seen for a while after his short disappearance, Lei and Ying sat by his side as usual and everyone else randomly, though he was sitting opposite Azure with Xuanming sitting by her side and Phoenix sitting next to Xuanming while Gai sat next to him.
Quiet chattering could be heard in the table, Xuanming trying to push a conversation with Azure, while Phoenix tried to coerce a conversation with him, blushing everytime she stared at him discreetly.
Lei spoke loudly as usual about extrinsic things while he and Gai engaged in a fairly normal conversation, compared to the rest of them, he quickly got along with Gai, presumably because they were close in the past, but his serene personality made the flow easier and more natural.
"Silence! Now that the four clans are complete, we should devise a plan to capture the culprit and figure out their motives behind all of this." Wenglei's baritone voice echoed across the table and the chattering died down as all eyes averted to him.
Silence ensued as they all awaited Wenglei to proceed with a plan as it was apparent he already had one and Zhulong wondered if his short disappearance was connected to his schemes he was busy devising.
"Well? No ideas." Wenglei queried with a bored expression on his face, his black eyes rolling in exasperation.
"We don't know where to start from Lord Wenglei, the creatures appear out of nowhere from a portal linked to the realm of monsters with an unknown location. It's not like we have magic to locate it." Phoenix said in a logical sense but her last sentence was said in a faint whisper, lingering away with the wind.
"At least you made a point. We don't wield magic, but we know beings who wield magic." Wenglei said nonchalantly, a lopsided smirk curving the side of his lips up but it disappeared as quickly as it came.
Brows raised and eyes slightly widened.
"Mages? No way! The Mages despises us, they'll impale us with a thousand arrows the minute we step foot into their domain. Remember we enslaved them once and exploited them for their magic." Xuanming snapped, disregarding the fact he was speaking to the King but Wenglei didn't seem offended by his remark.
The mage domain was a region beyond the yellow river in the North and across a gloaming valley were the Mages inhabited and wielded remarkable magical powers in which the origin of their powers were unbeknownst to the rest of the world and their existence concealed from the knowledge of ordinary beings.
"That was a century ago and a truce had been built, we are no longer their enemies and no one will be getting impaled." Wenglei said, emancipating on every proclamation as he lazily tucked a stray strand of black hair behind his ear.
Hearing about the Mage domain, Zhulong could recall significant memories about them, although it was centuries ago since they enslaved and exploited them but he had knowledge of them so he wasn't gaping like an oddball when they spoke of the Mage domain.
"Still, Lord Wenglei, venturing into the Mage's domain seems to be a bit too far. They made a truce and kept the peace but that doesn't guarantee the fact that they would warmly accept us into their territory. They might feel threatened and attack out of instinct." Azure implied, very word rolling off her lips said in as graceful manner as she passed across her point.
"I have everything under control, A messenger was dispatched to inform the Mage queen of our visit and she has approved for it. So there will be no impalement or attack, retain your concerns." Wenglei stated with an air of authority and a sigh of relief in unison echoed in the dining hall.
"So, after that what next?" Gai questioned.
"We get rid of the freed monsters, capture the culprit and seal the portal." Wenglei stated in a flat tone.
They all nodded in accordance, solace expression washing over their faces but oddly, Zhulong didn't feel relieved. Wenglei made it appear so uncomplicated, but deep down he could sense a ripple of storm brewing slowly underneath it all.
It couldn't be that easy, particularly when he realized he was transmigrated into a novel as one of the vampire brothers, whatever was occurring with the realm of monster was only the beginning of a guttural storm, initiated by whoever wrote the enigmatic book.
He could only hope that whatever plots and conflicts transpired in the book would not appear to be too hectic and perilous but his subconsciousness warned him to brace himself for the maximum worst and he couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Lord Zhulong, are you alright?" Gai's deep but gentle voice brought him back from his trance like state.
Everyone's gazes averted to him, watching him intently as they awaited his reply.
God! He hated when they did that. All gazes were on him like he was a criminal about to be executed for treason.
"I'm fine, just hungry." He blurted out, which wasn't a lie because he was feeling famished and he couldn't understand what was taking so long for the crimson bloody meal to be prepared, he could feel his throat burning already from insatiable hunger.
Their gazes averted from him as he spoke and he let out a dragged sigh.
Almost at that moment, their meals were served, for him and his vampire brothers, as usual, a glass filled to the brim with crimson juicy blood was served to them, while the four guardians were served an exotic buffet of human meals.
They were all in the middle of eating their varying meals in silence, Zhulong stole glances above his cup as he drank the crimson liquid to stare at Azure who was eating, but irritation would make his ears red whenever he saw Xuanming putting on a gentleman facade in front of her.
His irritation would only worsen when he heard Lei slurping the liquid noisily, making him grit his teeth.
"Can't you eat in silence?!" He growled beneath his breath as he shot daggers at Lei, once again everyone's attention was averted to the little show commenced by him.
"Watch your tone. You're speaking to your older brother." Lei said with an air of authority but Zhulong's snarky remarks about to erupt from him were abruptly dismissed when they heard ear piercing screams emanating from outside the palace.
"What was that?" Phoenix asked with an alerted voice as they all stood up gradually and proceeded toward the exterior of the castle where the commotion was erupting from.
Their shoes clinking with hurried steps against the marble floor until they halted outside.
Zhulong's golden eyes widened slightly when they caught sight of a raggedly ferocious beast with armed with ridiculously long claws and red gleaming eyes, clawing through the servants and guards in its way.
Some servants had managed to escape but the guards were busy plunging their long spears into its hard back but the effect yielded little result and the lethal beastly creature swung its claws across a guards abdomen, partitioning it neatly into two with his guts sprawling out onto the floor.
The same fate was bestowed upon the other guards and within a blink of an eye, the stoned ground was streaming with blood and gutted intestines with decapitated bodies dispersed on the floor.
"What are you all waiting for?!" Wenglei cried out with creased brows and they all charged towards the beast who growled at them and lunged forward to attack, making the ground underneath them rumble as its large feet slammed against the ground.