Lan Zhan waited until nightfall to quietly leave his room, convincing himself that the innkeeper was also asleep and that he could leave the inn unseen. Thanks to his vampire senses, he quickly convinced himself that everyone in the inn was asleep. Only in one room could something still be heard. But the two of them, as Lan Zhan suspected, would not notice anything anyway. For they were far too busy with each other.

Nevertheless, Lan Zhan waited a few more minutes before sneaking downstairs to the guest room. Convincing himself that his sword was not visible under his robe, he opened the door and stepped out into the street. As Lan Zhan suspected, no one was on the move on the old dusty street after dark.

The few lights that fell on the street from the houses were enough for Lan Zhan to see every crack and trip caused by carriages, horse-drawn carts, or rickshaws. Here he was once again helped by his sharpened vampire senses, which allow him to see well even in minimal light. Much like cats at night.

With his Vampiric speed, it took him only a few minutes to get out of the city and into the forest. And after only a few hundred meters in the forest, he could smell the people in the camp. It smelled like rotting flesh, festering wounds, and death. Not a good sign, as Lan Zhan knew all too well. The slave children were sick, perhaps already too sick to be saved.

Burning rage spread through Lan Zhan. And it grew incredibly fast to a murderous rage. Driven by the vengeful, unpredictable and bloodthirsty creature inside him, he ran through the forest towards the clearing where the slavers had their camp. Lurking, he hid behind a bush and pulled out his sword.

As the first guard passed Lan Zhan's position, Lan Zhan took a deep breath, even though as a vampire he doesn't need to breathe, swung his sword and slashed the gleaming sharp blade directly at the black man's skull. Without making a sound, the man slumped to the ground. His skull was split, causing instant death.

Lan Zhan crept to the next position. To a guard who stood leaning against a tree, softly humming a melody. Lan Zhan recognized the melody he was humming. He had heard it on his travels when he came across some Nubians in the Nubian desert taking a rest with their camels in the shade of a sand dune.

The Nubians were skeptical of him at first. But as he shared water, bread and meat with them, they began to open up to him. They sang this and a few other songs. And they allowed Lan Zhan to accompany them for a while. After a month, they even took him to their village and introduced him to their tribal saint. And this one immediately recognized what Lan Zhan was!

The black Nubian beauty had curly red hair. Around her head she wore a golden headband with three red rubies. Her colorful clothes covered only the most important parts of her body. On each of her fingers she had large golden rings. She did not wear shoes. On her back she had a tattoo that she received when she took her place as the tribal saint leader.

However, the tribal saint was not afraid of Lan Zhan and told him what she knew about the "Cold Beings". "Already many of the pharaohs knew about the cold beings and a few of their high priests even worshiped them as gods because they do not age and do not die. There were exactly 5 of these cold beings. They knew that these "gods" feed on blood and sacrificed 4 virgins to them once a month. Mostly they were young slave girls whose families received special treatment and extra food if they voluntarily gave their daughters to the high priests. But then there was a Pharaoh who proclaimed himself a god and refused to continue to make the bloodsuckers feel mild with sacrifices. He sent his army to the temple of the gods of the night and let his army destroy it while the cold beings were sleeping. Only two of them survived the attack. One of them took revenge on the Pharaoh. He invaded his bedchamber in the middle of the night and killed him and his favorite wife. He then killed Pharaoh's other wives and all his children. His revenge did not end there, however. The following night he killed all the high priests. Shortly thereafter, everyone in the kingdom fell ill with a strange disease that only one survived. This one went through the country and told what had happened. But only a very few believed him. Moreover, the two surviving cold beings disappeared." She had told.

Lan Zhan shook his head to shake off the memory of that time. He had something important to do. And he couldn't need any distractions for that. But now he knew that the slavers were Nubian pirates. He had heard a few years ago that pirates capture ships whose load consists of slaves. They steal the slaves and sell them themselves. Lan Zhan just never would have suspected that the Nubians would do such a thing. For many of their own people were also enslaved.

Cautiously, he approached the second guard. Silently he raised his sword and with a well-aimed hard blow, he struck the man's neck. The man did not even have time to realize what was happening to him as his head detached from his neck and fell to the ground. The head rolled half a meter further into a bush. The lifeless body simply sank to the ground.

In the same way Lan Zhan killed the 4 remaining guards. Then he went to the big tent and listened. He could hear three people snoring and one person standing next to the entrance of the tent. Lan Zhan plunged his sword through the tent canvas and into the heart of the guard. He then slipped inside the tent and killed the 3 sleeping men by piercing their hearts.

For a brief moment he was distracted when he saw something small lying on the ground under a cloth. He lifted the cloth and found a small black boy underneath. Lan Zhan did not have to examine the boy to realize that he was dying of the bubonic plague. He had seen several people die of the 'bubonic plague' before. But how and where was the boy infected with plague? And is there a risk to the nation?

From the old books, Lan Zhan knew that plague had broken out in the country once before around 1340. And it was spread through the sea routes, resulting in about 20 million deaths at that time.

Lan Zhan took a closer look at the men he had just killed to check for signs of the plague. But none of them seemed to be infected. At least he could not find anything. The other guards also showed no signs of the deadly disease. Just to make sure that no one could be infected by the dead boy, he gently placed the dead boy in the fire in the center of the camp.

Next, he went to the tent from which the stench of rotting flesh and death was most noticeable. He stepped through the entrance of the tent and saw 3 cages. It was just as the men at the inn had told. Only that over half of the slave children were dead. And the other half were about to die. They were all very sick. Some of them had open wounds that were infected.

He opened the first cage with the older children. But he realized right away that there was nothing he could do for them. They were already dead. Then he opened the cage of the youngest children. Only one of them was still alive. But it would not survive the night. Just like the other children, it would die of a disease Lan Zhan had never before seen.

As he opened the third and final cage, he sighed. For these children also had little chance of surviving the night. "They're all sick." He heard the soft voice of a boy.

"Where are you?" Lan Zhan asked.

"You understand me?"

"Yes. Now tell me where you are!"

"In a wooden box. I don't know exactly where it is."

"Never mind, I think I see it." Replied Lan Zhan. He walked up to a wooden box behind one of the cages and broke the lock on it. Then he opened the wooden box and a scruffy boy blinked at him.

"Are you a prince? You look like a nobleman." Said the boy.

"No. I'm just an ordinary man. Tell me boy, what is your name?"

"My name is Youn. Seungyoun. And I'm already 8 years old."

"And why did they put you in the box?"

"Because I bit the one guy's hand and I'm the only one who didn't get sick."

"Are there any more of these camps?"

"No. We were the rest. All the other slaves got sick and died while still on the ship."

"What about your family? Were they on the ship too?"

"No. My parents died two years ago. My uncle took me in when they died. But then he married a woman and had a baby with her. She didn't want me there anymore, so my uncle just kicked me out."

"And then what happened?"

"I begged like many other children in the city. Then two men came and asked me if I could do something for them. They wanted to pay me well for it. I went with them to the port and then they dragged me onto the ship. They chained us together."

"And then what?"

"We only got food once a day. And that was not enough for everyone. We also got water only once a day. Many got sick after only a few days. Then when half of the slaves had already died, a pirate ship came. The black men dragged us onto their ship and treated us no better than the others."

"Everyone else got sick. But you didn't. And you don't look like you were starving either."

"The adults left their food and water to us children."

"I see. So you don't have anyone else?"

"No."

"Well that's a problem. You're a Korean boy who doesn't speak our language and has no one. And if I just leave you behind, it won't be long before the next slavers catch you. So how about you come with me?"

"Okay."

"Just like that? Even though you don't know me?"

"You have kind eyes and you saved me. You can't be a bad person."

"Not a bad person? Mhhh." Lan Zhan lifted Youn out of the wooden box and held him in his arms.

Youn touched Lan Zhan's hand first, then his cheek. "You, you are not human." He said hesitantly.

"That's correct."

"You're a vampire, aren't you?"

"How does a boy of eight know what vampires are?"

"My grandpa used to tell me about vampires. He said they lived in town and fed on the blood of the townspeople. Do you drink blood, too? Do you want to drink my blood?"

"I drink blood, too. And no, I don't want to drink your blood. There are people who willingly let creatures like me drink from their blood."

"I see."

"Are you afraid of me now?"

"No."

"Good, then let's go now."

"And what about the other children? They're dying."

"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for them now. They are unconscious and no longer suffering. They'll all be dead in the morning, I'm sure."

"But..."

"Youn. I'm afraid I can't help them. I don't even know what kind of disease they have."

"All right. But I don't think you should leave them like that. What if they're not dead in the morning after all?"

"Do you want me to put them out of their misery?"

"Yes. Please."

"All right. But then you wait outside the tent."

"I will." Said Youn. Lan Zhan lowered him down and the boy ran out of the tent. Afterwards, Lan Zhan released those children who were still alive. Maybe it really was better for them that way.

When Lan Zhan came out of the tent, he looked for Youn. The boy came out of the other tent and ran toward Lan Zhan. "We should leave quickly now." Shouted the boy.

"What, why?" Asked Lan Zhan.

"Because everything is about to blow up here!" Youn shouted. Lan Zhan grabbed the boy and ran with him as fast as he could. Only seconds later, there was a loud explosion. Then a second one. Against the shock waves, even Lan Zhan was powerless. He landed on the ground with Youn. And for a moment he seemed to be deaf.