Father Mia's death was as insignificant as someone passing gas.
If there was anyone in this world who cared most about Father Mia, it would probably be the current Norton.
But unfortunately, Norton was currently a bit overwhelmed with his own problems.
The midday sun brought the sweltering heat of midsummer with cicadas chirping, the mountains remained lush and continuous, and the pond water was still clear to the bottom.
The entire world hadn't changed because of a few people's deaths - this was the greatness of the macroscopic perspective.
Branches swayed continuously with the gentle breeze, causing the reflections on the pond's surface to become disturbed and chaotic, as if coming to life.
A humanoid creature stood quietly by the pond, looking at his own reflection in the water, seemingly examining it, yet also seeming unbelievable.
But as sounds emerged, it clearly revealed his incredulous mood.
Norton could hardly accept the reflection he saw in the pond!
He, Norton, had previously been a genuine handsome man - even Father Mia, that old man who liked them young, had some improper designs on him, which showed what kind of heaven-bestowed face he possessed.The human reflection floating on the water surface had shriveled and dried up, like a corpse that had been dragged to a latrine and air-dried for over a decade - withered, wrinkled, and utterly disgusting.
Whether due to the shrinking or because his bones themselves had undergone some changes, his overly slender body appeared somewhat elongated, but from behind, he looked somewhat hunchbacked, no different from a wind-dried, dehydrated corpse!
Whether due to the shrinking or because his bones themselves had undergone some changes, his overly slender body appeared somewhat elongated, but from behind, he looked somewhat hunchbacked, no different from a wind-dried and dehydrated mummy!
The nails on his fingers and toes seemed to have protruded outward due to dehydration, looking both disgusting and terrifying.
If Norton hadn't felt any physical discomfort in his body, he would have thought this disgusting appearance was because he drank that poisoned blood!
"Sharp teeth and crimson eyes, withered and unclean! This is the second stage of vampire transformation!"
Norton looked thoughtfully at the disgusting reflection on the water surface, recalling contents from a book about vampire descriptions he had read before.
Although the book only described two stages of vampires, based on his speculation, this so-called first and second stage seemed more like an intermediate process of a corpse transforming into the vampire species.
Like species evolution, it definitely couldn't achieve perfection immediately - there would definitely be various intermediate evolutionary processes, and the entire process could be called growth.
So according to his speculation, vampires definitely had a completed evolutionary stage.
Norton felt he should be in the growth phase... right?
Norton couldn't be sure whether his guess was correct or not, but regardless of correctness, since he had already become like this, what else could he do?
Looking like this, he completely couldn't show his face to anyone.
But this worked out well too - the appearance of these two golden knights made him feel he shouldn't go out anymore, perfect for hiding.
Besides the physical changes, Norton could also feel his strength had further increased.
Originally he might have had the strength of three or four adults, but now he could use just his fingernails to scratch marks directly into stone.
He couldn't estimate how much his strength had increased, but undoubtedly, both his power and physical toughness had greatly enhanced.
Norton looked at his disgusting reflection in the water, suddenly reaching down to grab something.
"Hehe, this thing might have shrunk too but still feels pretty good!"
Norton became happy.
"Now there's real hope for living on!"
Norton happily jumped back into the water.
Little Norton was the true essence - if he lost this thing essential for survival during his long life, he truly wouldn't have the courage to continue living.
This place was no longer safe. Since those two terrifying church knights could find him, this meant the church definitely had more tracking methods.
And now these two bodies were still lying here - if the corpses themselves had tracking functions, then he really had to run.
These two fools didn't manage to kill him this time, but that didn't mean the church would send such fools next time. If they sent someone with combat intelligence, he would be truly finished.
Norton hadn't forgotten how that werewolf died.
The church knights clearly had professional methods and weapons for dealing with various monsters.
So he needed to quickly pack his things and escape, preferably finding a large river where he could hide underwater. That way, even if the church could still track him, they couldn't enter the water to find him.
"Who would have thought being a vampire would be so miserable? Had I known earlier, I might as well have sold my ass to go to Heaven and accompany God, maybe God wouldn't even want me.
Norton gritted his teeth in hatred. He climbed out of the water and began packing his things.
He had accumulated quite a lot of traces of life here during this time - like his flight of fancy dedicated chair, sleeping coffin board, blood bucket carved from wood, clothes stolen from the city...
Norton looked angrily at his rattan chair that had been smashed when the holy knights charged in, feeling extremely heartbroken.
This chair was very comfortable - he had grown fond of this height!
Norton picked up the broken stick from the ground with pity, then forcefully stabbed it into the two corpses nearby.
"Thud!"
The wooden stick pierced through flesh and blood. The two dead knights seemed to have lost that terrifying sense of power and physical quality - their flesh, no different from ordinary people's, easily became incense burners consecrating the wooden stick.
Because the blood inside had been completely absorbed by Norton, no blood spilled out.
Norton placed his pots, pans, and dishes into his coffin, used vines to tie the coffin and coffin board to his back, then utilized his tremendous strength to lift it up, forcefully carrying the coffin as he walked out.
He feared these items might also have tracking functions. In short, he left behind everything related to the church.
If these things couldn't track him, he could come back for them later. But if they really could track, then carrying them would be no different from having GPS on him - better not to take them.
Norton carried his large coffin board out from the cave's front entrance. Originally, the cave passage was narrow, requiring considerable effort to exit, but now those two monsters bred by the church had crashed open a large hole, making exit much more convenient.
"Chirp chirp chirp..." The bat hanging upside down from the cave ceiling chirped at Norton twice, seemingly bidding farewell.
"Give it here!"
Norton reached out and plucked it down, then let it hang upside down on the wrinkled skin of his chest.
"You little guy don't think about escaping either!"
This little thing could not only alert him but also be played with in hands, making excellent company. He, Norton, loved this kind of small fluffy creature the most.