The Record of Unusual Creatures

by Stayrr

Hao Ren is a good man, and his ideal was to live a restful, comfortable life as a landlord. At least that was his plan before a couple of abnormal creatures rented his house.

2. 43

Read The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 43: Circadian Cycles in Disharmony online free - Novelfull

Chapter 43: Circadian Cycles in Disharmony

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The stocky bloke on TV looked about forty to fifty odd, Hao Ren guessed. He was a proprietor of a small inn, living on the edge of Brewshire. The local, named Angus, had encountered supernatural happenings in the ruins and had spread the news to attract visitors. His decent and honest guise was a perfect cover, seeing that he was a business-minded man.

Hao Ren was so engrossed with the interview that he did not noticed Lily who was scratching him with her claws. The werewolf couldn't understand a single word and was close to throwing a tantrum.

"...I was clearing the room on the second floor that night," Mr Angus' face was flushed as red as a tomato on camera. His excitement was apparent as he narrated his supernatural encounters. The popularity of his inn has grown following the supernatural ruckus. To him, this is nothing but good news. "My inn is just on the edge of the town, 'Angus' Lodge' is the first building you'll see if you are coming in from the highway. There are windows at the back of the inn directly facing the castle ruins. It is still a mighty distance away, so you can't really see the rocks. But that night, I saw a pillar of flame in the general direction of the ruins. There's nothing there, no trees nor houses, just a pile of rocks. Since I did not know what was it that actually caught fire, I gave 999 a dial..."

"Did many saw the pillar of flame?" The interviewer interrupted to refocus on the topic at hand. The man was very eager to stay on camera and would have gone on had she not stopped him.

"Oh yes, yes. The part of the town facing the ruins was lit up." Mr Angus nodded. "I even checked with the others around when it happened again the day after. It lit up for a good ten minutes or so and before vanishing, as though it was never there. The Fire Service had went through the area and found only barren rocks in that vicinity. I'm very sure I did not make a prank call. I'm an honest business man you see, 'Angus' Lodge' is a long and proud product of honest..."

"I heard that you drove up to check the place out?" The lady interviewer interjected.

"Yes, I sure did, many times, even during the nights." Fear crept on his face. "During which I ran into some ghastly incidents. There was once this soldier in full steel armour marched in front of my car, screaming in a very strange voice. Other times the engine died for no reason, the radio played some very strange noise... They're the most horrifying encounters."

The interviewer turned back towards the camera with her microphone. "The supernatural tales of Brewshire had since spread far and wide, attracting many adventurers and supernatural enthusiasts to this town even catching the attention and interest of a few electromagnetic and geological researchers..."

Hao Ren's interest in the show had faded by then. It's pretty much a show that exhort the curiosity of science and one that myth of the supernatural realm. He switched off the TV and sat in a stupor.

Lily had pretty much lost her patience and was throwing a tantrum. She jumped onto the sofa and violently nudged Hao Ren's shoulders. "Mr Landlord, Mr Landlord, what was she talking about!?"

"... I'm afraid our 'new friend'... is probably a ghost" Hao Ren said heavily. "Remember the disturbance in a castle ruins that Mr Nangong was talking about? It was the same as the one on the television show. If this is not something the locals cooked up to bring in tourists, it's definitely something connected to the 'new guy' Raven12345 talked about. My god, why does it have to be someone so troublesome.."

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Vivian did not understand what's being said on TV, but she caught glimpses of what was on the screen and surmised. "Wait a minute..., that means that the Yorkford castle ruins will be swarming with people, most of which are looking for ghosts?"

"Yeap, that just complicates things..." Hao Ren sighed. "If I could help it I would love to do without the unnecessary attention. Who knows if this new guy will play nice, like the both of you. Good grieves... if this guy turns out to be a bloody brat, it will surely get messy."

Lily was squatting on the sofa for a good while now and with a loud clap, declared "I'm sleepy. Gonna go take a nap now."

With that, she casually strolled towards her room as Hao Ren and Vivian looked on in disbelief. They only snapped back to their senses after hearing the door slammed behind her. Lily, that idiot, had still not gotten over her jetlag. It's bright daylight out there, but her biological clock was screaming "BEDTIME!"

"I'm pretty sleepy myself" Hao Ren yawned as he was finally overwhelmed by the long travel. It was partly due to seeing Lily go to bed. "I'm gonna catch a short nap too, you're not sleepy?"

"I'm fine, my routine is not the same as the both of you." Vivian shrugged. "Sides', my biological clock is totally out of whack trying to match both your routines in these past few day. Anyway, I'm not sleepy at the moment."

"Fine then. I'm gonna catch a snooze. Wake me up if I'm not up by night-time. We'll go out for dinner. As for Lily, I think she'll be dead asleep. We'll have to bring something back for her." said Hao Ren as he dragged himself into his bedroom.

Vivian was the only person left in the lounge. She forlornly stared at the room that Lily had went into. She, a noble vampire will have to share the bed with that shaggy dog, Lily for the night.

Hao Ren slept all the way till it was almost nine at night. Vivian said she was hesitant to wake him up, seeing that he was sleeping so soundly. Lily, much the same, was about as dead as a log. She don't seem to have any intentions of getting over the jetlag. Lily didn't even move, not even when Vivian was pacing around in circles around her.

As they have things to attend to early in the morning, Hao Ren and Vivian went down to the hotel's dining hall to have a quick meal. Lily was still drooling in her sleep when they got back to the room. She was probably not feeling hungry at all. Hao Ren then left the food that he had gotten for her on the table and went back to his room for more rest. He wanted to get over the jetlag by sleeping as much as possible that night.

Vivian, being a vampire, had a rather different routine compared to humans and werewolves. She even got it messed up when staying at Hao Ren's place. Over here in England, she only started feeling sleepy close to midnight. By now, the smarter ones among you might have guessed it. Yep. Lily was awake.

A human with normal physiology, a werewolf who didn't seem to have the slightest intentions of dealing with her jet lags, and a disorganized vampire who had fixed her biological clock, this trio's circadian cycles were in utter disharmony in a foreign land with an eight hours' time difference from China. When Hao Ren and Vivian were awake, Lily was asleep. When Vivian was sleepy, Lily was hopping about like a bunny. When Hao Ren was two-thirds into his sleep cycle, Vivian was awake and fresh. So when both Vivian and Lily were awake, Hao Ren was still asleep. Don't even bother trying to determine the times that all three of them are awake as all three of them were equally confused! Technically, only two thirds of the team were awake most of the time, when one was asleep, there will be one scurrying about the room like a ghost...

Early the next morning, Hao Ren woke up with a crow's nest of a hair on his head. He ran into Vivian by the door way, whose eyes were bloodshot. She immediately protested when she saw him. "Hao Ren! I will not sleep in the same room with that big dog anymore! She woke up in the wee hours complaining of being hungry and spent the next two hours scurrying about in the dark in front of my bed!"

Hao Ren guessed that he was probably the only one who got the most out of his sleep, at least ten hours by his estimation. As he groggily looked at Vivian, he said, "The room was unusually cold last night. Did you feel it? I tried turning off the air-con, it didn't help much. Have any idea what's going on?"

Vivian said with a blush, "Erm... I couldn't sleep before midnight, so I was doing some aerobic exercises in the lounge. Didn't notice anything strange though..."

Hao Ren was suddenly stricken by a chill down his spine. He gave a thought to Vivian's recollection and found it unnerving: A vampire quietly doing aerobics in the hall, and a werewolf stalking by the bed in the dark.

The only component lacking here is a filming crew and this would be the perfect ghost story!

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Chapter 44: Brewshire

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was six in the morning.

Hao Ren hastily washed his face with the cold tap water, to rid him of the grogginess from the ten-hour sleep. After washing up, he went down to the dining hall on the first floor, accompanied by a rather grumpy Vivian. On their tail, was a zombified Lily who had been wide awake since midnight. Now as her naptime draws near, drowsiness overtook her again

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"Mr Landlord, I'm sleeeeeeeeppyyyy... and hungry too... I need lunch... and I need somewhere place to lay my head down..." Lily mumbled, her voice was bereft of any strength. In her current state, she resembled a tired pet dog who refused to leave her master's side. Though feeling a strong urge to do it, Vivian could not muster the courage to take a jab at Lily. Lily still has her pride, even in such a pathetic state. She would still bite if you likened her to that of a pet dog. Even a metal cuirass would not save you from her jaws.

It should be breakfast, not lunch." said Hao Ren as he looked out through the window into the gloomy dawn. Though London had had left her smoggy industrial past, she still retained much of the foggy morns, the heavy clouds, and the unpredictable weather. The weather that morning was not looking good. Though the sun was already up by now, it was still rather gloomy outside. There should still be a thick veil of fog or overcast for the next few hours to come.

"Look, over there." Vivian pulled on Hao Ren's sleeve out of the blue. She pointed towards a table outside the restaurant. "This Mr Nangong seems to be very punctual. A rare quality amongst those who had dealings with demon hunters. Hmph."

Vivian had nurtured a dislike for Mr Nangong as he seemed to have some ties with a demon hunter (or have one percent chance of actually being one). While she was not outright hostile towards him, she would find it hard faking a smile for him.

"After watching the news yesterday, I don't think we need the company of such a dangerous person. " Hao Ren hesitated. "Yorkford Castle will be swarming with people looking for ghosts, so there shouldn't be a need for a guide right?"

"Is that so?" Vivian rolled her eyes. "How then are you going from London to Brewshire?"

Hao Ren was taken aback for a moment. He had totally forgotten about that.

By then, Mr Nangong had also noticed the trio and rose to greet them with a friendly smile. Hao Ren realizing that his opportunity to turn tail had passed, reluctantly led Vivian and Lily to greet him.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, you guys are early." Mr Nangong quipped with a smile. Just then, his attention was diverted to Lily, who was still following them from behind half asleep. "Uh... what's wrong with her?"

"Still suffering from the jet lag, she's supposed to be having her afternoon nap." Hao Ren shrugged. "So, are we leaving now, or should we have something first before we leave?"

Mr Nangong gestured that it was still early and the train was not arriving any time soon. At that, Hao Ren decided to eat up since the hotel provides free breakfast buffet for its customers. Hao Ren why waste the hospitality, so he decided to eat his money's worth before checking out. During breakfast, Lily was close to falling asleep. Her eyes were almost shut already. Surprisingly, even in a state as such, she still managed to eat.

Seeing that she could barely move, Hao Ren went to get a plate of food for Lily. She somehow finished breakfast with her eyes closed, putting her formidable sense of smell to good use. By the time she's done, the plate was squeaky clean.

Nangong could only look on in amazement while Hao Ren and Vivian were shaking in their shoes. They were so afraid that the 'demon hunter' would find out about Lily's true identity. But it seemed he was either a fake or an inexperienced newbie as he only gasped in amazement at Lily's feat, not even suspecting that a 'demon' was seated right next to him.

After having their breakfast, Hao Ren went to the reception to complete the check-out procedure and they left lugging their bags. Though they did not have much luggage, it was still the man's job to lug it. Vivian however, tied them onto Lily's back without batting an eyelid: the latter did not even flinch when the weight of the bags was suddenly added on her back. She was undoubtedly still asleep! While she was snoozing. And so, the party departed with Lily as their coolie, tailing them in her slumber.

"The only good thing about her is her ungodly strength, it would be a waste to not make her our porter." Vivian waved her hand as Hao Ren gave her a quizzical look. "Oh don't you worry, she's volunteering. Though she's sleeping now."

Hao Ren didn't feel right as he saw Lily lumbering about with their luggage in her sleep. He always had a soft spot for Lily, so he took the luggage instead. "Forget it, I'll be carrying it. Stop bullying her."

Lily, in her slumber, was actually still quite aware. "Dann… gyuuu… Mr Landloord... I... am okay..."

Vivian wrinkled her nose in disdain, "Oh you men and your manliness, you lot never changed."

Hao Ren let out a dry laugh and took a glance at Mr Nangong. The self-proclaimed demon hunter was slender in build and his luggage looked much heavier than those of all three of them combined. It was even bigger than the luggage Lily was carrying when she first met Hao Ren. The rattling sound its wheels made as they rolled on the cement road was deafening. God knows what's in there!

"What's in there?" Vivian, being the sly old fox that she is (don't let her hear you calling her old), quickly put on the charm of a curious young girl as she put forth a seemingly innocent question.

"'Work' related," Nangong said as he dragged the luggage along. He somehow looked dignified in his clean white shirt and black slacks. One wouldn't be faulted for mistaking him for one of those successful entrepreneurs. "I use them to fight evil. All the stuffs in there had taken down at least a hundred foul beasts."

"A real demon hunter wouldn't have needed so many tools." Vivian whispered as she returned to Hao Ren's side. "They ARE the weapon. Looks like we can relax for a bit."

Hao Ren preoccupied with another thought, was perplexed. They both were men, but how did Nangong resemble a businessman on a business trip while he himself looked like a total hobo...

With that, both parties, each with schemes of their own, journeyed towards Brewshire. Having someone who knew his way around was indeed a lifesaver. With Nangong's help, the trios never did not get lost within the labyrinth of streets in London and got on the train heading for Brewshire without much hassle.

The four were silent throughout the journey.

As there were many strangers around them, Hao Ren and Vivian could not discuss anything sensitive and the journey was as dull as it could get. The only thing worth noting was that Lily finally woke up from her 'nap' halfway through the ride and squirmed about for a good half of the journey. By the time the train pulled in at Brewshire, she was already sleepy again.

So much for being the most excited one before the trip. Since their arrival in London, she was either sleeping or doing nothing. As expected, she spent the rest of her waking hours strolling around the carriage.

By the time they arrived at Brewshire it was close to late evening. There were not many people at the station, guess not everyone was interested in a ghost hunt in this remote countryside. The announcement over the PA speakers sounded familiar, much like the ones he heard back at home. Hao Ren realized that the station was more remote that he thought it would be.

The train station was rather small with only two train tracks running through it. One of it was even abandoned. The meagre station was bereft of almost everything except the barren plains surrounding it and the few wild scorched vegetation swaying in the wind. Not far from the station was a small town, Brewshire. Its buildings looked so worn and aged that it looked more like a village than a town.

Hao Ren had no idea how the town came to be, or why was it built in the middle of nowhere. This place reminded him of another place, somewhere familiar... oh right, it was Raven12345's office at Bastard Barrio.

Nangong sniffed the air with a look of mischief on his face. "I smell them."

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Chapter 45: The Lodge

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Nangong was standing on the platform of a countryside train station as a light breeze was blowing in his face. He took a deep breath and thought the air smelled like dried dirt. A hint of happiness could be seen on his elegant features, though they weren't altogether handsome. "Can't you feel it? There's certain smell lingering in the air."

His look gave Hao Ren the creeps as he felt that Nangong could be a time bomb: This demon hunter is really keen. He could sense the chill coming from the castle the moment he got off the train.

"I can't smell anything." Vivian sniffed. "And the Yorkford Castle is still quite far from here, isn't it?"

"'Their' scent can spread across a long distance," Nangong replied as his fixed his messy hair, looking rather happy. "As a demon hunter, I excel in catching their scent. Of course you can't detect it. It takes lots of practice. Alright, craps aside, we really need to find a place to rest as the sun is already setting."

Nangong picked up his luggage and walked towards the slope at the end of the station. After he had walked for about 10 meters ahead of them, Lily suddenly opened her eyes and shouted nonsensically, "What smell are you talking about? Let me do the job, my nose is very sensitive!"

"You can just go back to sleep," jeered Vivian while slapping Lily on the back. "Oh," replied Lily who did not take offense at it. She slumbered into a sleepwalk in seconds as the jetlag catch up to her.

"I really don't smell anything." said Vivian while shaking her head from side to side as Hao Ren looked at her. "The Blood Clan has superb sensitivity to the scents of spirits. Yet I don't detect any odd scent at all. Plus, the Yorkford Castle is just too far away and it isn't after-dark yet. Our hour of prime has yet to come. That self-acclaimed demons hunter… Does he really have the ability in sensing unusual creatures? He wasn't even aware of our identities.

Hao Ren rubbed his chin as he gave thought to what Vivian just said and finally surmised. "He is probably just boasting."

"… It could be!" said Vivian.

The station was located right on the outskirts of Brewshire. The both were connected by a narrow country road. Unfortunately for this company of four, there was no bus in sight so they hitched a ride into town. It was almost dark when they entered the town. The last scarlet ray of setting sun was fading over the horizon. The streetlights in town lit up one after another. Nostalgia struck Hao Ren as he was gazing down the street in a foreign land. He was not really an outgoing person and thus rarely stays overnight outside, let alone going abroad. He had never thought that one day he would be standing here in a foreign land, 8-hours behind time, dealing with unfamiliar surroundings, people, lifestyle, and language. Though the last was easily solved with the help of the MDT, the rest remained as challenges. He folded his arms and sighed, missing his cozy home and his black little pet cat. He wondered how was 'Rollie' doing. It was probably out on the streets by now, mingling with stray dogs and cats.

While Hao Ren was having a hard time adapting to the foreign land, Vivian had no problem with it at all. The vampire had gotten used to travelling around the world. She was enthralled by the scenery along the way from London to the Brewshire. As if finally figuring it out, she blurted, "It doesn't seem to be as serious as it was in the news. There are not many outsiders here there for it could be that the situation was just exaggerated in the news or that the paranormal enthusiasts aren't here yet."

After making sure that Nangong was far ahead and out of earshot, he whispered, "How can you tell?"

"Just by listening to their heartbeats and smelling their blood. It's my strength." Vivian shrugged her shoulders and answered. "The heartbeat exposes one's emotion and the taste of blood reveals one's family ties and ancestry. Every creature native to a land has similar component in their blood. It can't be altered within a short period of time. Thus, I can vaguely sense how many among them are outlanders and the number of those whose hearts are restless. By combining these two sets of figures, I can estimate the number of people who came for the haunted castle. These are the absolutely necessary skills the Blood Clan must possess in order to hunt down their preys. Though I don't prey on humans, I still possess the natural gifts of the vampires."

Vivian's words set off ripples of goosebumps under Hao Ren's skin. One could almost see the blood red glow in her eyes: Though speaking in her usual tone, the content of this vampiress' speech really creeped the daylight out of you. This useless vampiress had finally gave us a glimpse of her true prowess as one belonging to the aristocrat of the dark night. Though this helped her much in scouting and making sense of the current situation in town, she was still pretty much useless.

Hao Ren turned to look at Lily who was tailing them in her sleepwalk. This time, it's the stupid werewolf's turn to fall short of his expectations. This numbskull kept going on and on about the keenness of all her senses, especially her sense of smell, which was superb. Disappointingly, of all the times, she had to be sleeping now, and the best her sense of smell can do at the moment was to keep her from losing her way.

"Anyway, it's a good that we don't have that many outsiders here at the moment." Hao Ren nodded and said, "Raven 12345 instructed us to go to the Yorkford Castle. She also said that both the 'client' and we will be able to sense each other when we arrive at a certain place. However, she wasn't sure about the current state of the 'client'. Therefore, it's better to have no irrelevant personnel on scene."

"Are we departing at night?" Vivian frowned. "I have the advantage in combat at night. The big dog will also be more alert after midnight. She would be a force to be reckoned with, more or less."

Hao Ren curled his lip and thought. "This is utter nonsense. I could knock the shit out of this piece of Blood Clan nobility with the simple toss of a brick. Isn't that something to be reckoned with?"

"It depends. Let's observe the movements of the paranormal enthusiasts. We have to get into action before tomorrow night. The more we delay, the more will the number of people gathering here be." said Hao Ren.

"The growing crowd could work to our advantage." Vivian muttered. "We can mingle with the crowd, telling them that we are here for the ghost hunt as well. Sometimes, the best guise is to be act openly, as if we have nothing to hide."

"What if, in plain sight, a headless knight jumps out from the castle, holds on to me and starts calling out, "landlord!"? What if a hologram pop up into the air from my pocket saying, "Matching Successful? What if the new tenant we are about to meet is a looney, a troublemaker? I have to take into consideration my rotten luck and the unreliable Raven 12345 who claimed that backup will be always ready. If anything of these sort occurs, you will have to figure out a way to get me out of the MI5… Are you confident enough to help me jailbreak in England?"

Vivian nodded earnestly and said, "I did it before. However, the prisons in England then had wooden fence and I so I managed to sneak in via an underground tunnel. After knocking out about 10 knights, I rescued my sister from her cell. She was captured by a demon hunter …"

"Let's not mention what happened back in the 1190s."

Vivian was speechless.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted. "Let's stay here tonight! It's getting late. We probably won't find any hotel further down the road." Nangong interjected.

The last Hao Ren remember, the three of them were way behind Nangong. He looked up and saw that they had reached an inn. The inn was a three-storey building. It wasn't big but it looked clean, new, and beautiful with those white walls and blue tiles. Above the door, a line of words was flashed on a neon light signboard. With the help of the translation system, Hao Ren read it out as if he was reading in his mother tongue, "Angus' Lodge… Hey, what a small world!"

This was the same inn they heard about on the news yesterday. The boss of the inn should be the man who appeared on the news.

Three of them followed Nangong and entered the inn. There were two people behind the ground floor counter. One of them was a young lady who seemed to be the cashier while the other man was a chunky middle-aged man who looked decent and honest. He was the man they saw on the news.

"Yo, welcome to Angus' Lodge!" The man greeted them warmly and turned to look at the lady as he said proudly, "Look, another group of foreigners. Now we don't have to worry about business no more."

Hao Ren was stunned and thought: "Even the British looks down foreigners as gullible tourists?

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Chapter 46: The Tale of the Castle

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It seemed that Vivian was right. Though the haunting of Yorkford Castle had attracted unnumbered paranormal enthusiasts from other places, the town was not too crowded yet. There were still three unoccupied rooms left, the last three available at Angus' Lodge.

The ideal arrangement would be four rooms for each of them respectively so that they could have their own rooms and not interfere with each other. Since there were only three rooms left, Vivian and Lily had no choice but to share a room. Needless to say, the vampiress was very much annoyed by the arrangement. She saw that Lily was still standing there, snoring. Therefore, she expected her to wake up in the middle of the night and repeat what she did last night, messing around while others need to sleep. She already gave up the notion that she would be able to have a good sleep as the girl who couldn't deal with the jet lag was around.

After they got the key, Nangong, seeing that the boss wasn't busy with his customers, leaned against the counter to have a little chat with him. "Hi, I have seen you on the news. You must be Mr. Angus, right? Is it true that there is a haunted castle nearby?"

"Oh, you are quite fluent in English, at least better than that Indian monk over there." The boss seemed cheerful. As the owner of the inn, he was very easy to get along with and could strike up a conversation with anyone. "Are you guys here for the castle as well? It has been a big happening in town recently. It was an ancient castle, almost forgotten. The same could be said of Brewshire too if not for the recent haunting of the castle. In truth, it is a symbolic historical relic. Now, I'm afraid it's going to become a popular tourist spot after this."

"Truth be told, I'm an expert in this matter," Nangong said solemnly while straightening his collar. ". I'm a professional demon hunter from China and I'm here to eradicate the evil spirits in the castle."

Hao Ren couldn't help but whispered in Vivian's ear, "This guy is really high profile, going around telling everybody about his job."

The vampire girl snorted, without any comment. Seeing that the groggy Lily was about to crawl on the floor, she went over and held her by the shoulders, saying, "I will send her to the room first. Come meet me after you talked to them, we have something to discuss." Vivian then helped Lily to their room.

The lodgekeeper was amazed at Nangong's statement. "Oh, you're from the mysterious land of China? If I'm not mistaken, the ghost hunters over there were called … What's it again? Dao Shi?"

To be honest, he was probably quite familiar with China as he pronounced the word "Dao Shi" accurately in Mandarin.

This time, Nangong didn't spend time to explain his job as a demon hunter. He just smiled, nodded and said, "I'm not a Dao Shi, though I do know how to perform exorcism. I wonder if you have some time to spare to tell us about the story of the Yorkford Castle. It sounds very interesting."

The lodgekeeper was overexcited. He got his stumpy body out from behind the small counter effortlessly and led the two to a long table at the side which served as a resting corner for weary customers. "Of course I have. Take a seat and let's take our time. I had been telling the story of the castle for the past two days. Now, where should I start?"

"Err, let's start from the history of the castle." Said how Hao Ren as he was amused by the overexcitement on the face of the lodgekeeper. It almost felt as if this chap would not give up the chance to share his story. "I know nothing of that castle. I did't even know its exact location prior to this."

The lodgekeep was surprised. "Oh, your English is much better than mine…"

"…Eh-hem, let's focus on the story," said Hao Ren.

After Hao Ren's gentle prompt, the attention-deficit lodgekeeper started telling the story with much passison. It all started hundreds of years ago when an English nobleman established the settlement here in Brewshire. He then took more than ten minutes explaining the history of the noble family. It was a tale full of love and hatred, ups and downs. The lord of the castle was likened to a knight of the Round Table. According to him, the nobleman and his family lived in the ancient Yorford Castle for less than 200 years. Within the 200 years, the family went through a lot of highs and troughs, the feud with palace, the rebellion from within Brewshire and wars without. In the end, the whole family collapsed under as a result of the rivalry between the three heirs. The eldest was killed on the throne of Yorkford Castle; the second died while battling the rebellion; and the youngest had gone missing. The family left countless of legends and tales behind. And the once flourishing Yorkford Castle had now become the biggest pending demolition project in the town.

"Yorkford was once prosperous. However, it was ruined by an insurrection. Numerous knights and soldiers were killed in that battle both outside and inside the castle. Their recovered remains were buried but some remained unfound. Many of these soldiers were trapped alive by the rebels in secret tunnels and cellars under the castle. After the family had passed on, nobody remembered the hidden rooms under the castle. Therefore, the soldiers who were trapped in the cellars and secret tunnels remained there." The lodgekeeper smacked his lips and continued in an eerie tone. "It is said that those soldiers died down there and now they had come back to haunt the castle. There they were unable to lend their aid when the rebel army killed their lord. Thus, their souls were filled with hatred …"

Looking at Angus's expressive chubby face, Hao Ren thought that this bloke must have been a tour guide in his past life.

"There were secret tunnels and cellars under the castle? Was it like a huge labyrinth?" Hao Ren asked curiously. Nangong interjected before Angus could speak. "It's quite common actually. In those days, the castles weren't just places for nobles to stay. They're also the last fortress during times of war. There were usually be huge cellars and secret tunnels extending in all directions under the castles. Some of the castles would even have tunnels which extended to the borders of the territory to allow their lords to escape as far away as possible in emergencies."

Angus nodded in agreement with Nangong and added, "Most of the tunnels had collapsed. People have also forgotten about the existence of Yorkford Castle. Nobody is interested in it enough to explore it and therefore, nobody knows the secrets buried under the castle."

"Have you really seen the ghosts?" Hao Ren couldn't help his curiosity as he looked at the ruddy complexion of the lodgekeeper. He didn't look as if he had seen ghosts. Who in the world would look so cheerful after bumping into ghosts?

"Of course I did!" said Angus as he raised his voice in reply. "You are not the first to doubt it. I swear, it is the real deal. I saw the souls of the knights and mysterious flames around the castle… It was a dreadful night. However, it also brought me lots of customers. So maybe it's not that bad after all."

Hao Ren quickly reassured him that he trusted him when he saw that Angus was getting agitated. They continued to talk about the recent happenings in the vicinity of the castle. After a while, Hao Ren left them and went upstairs.

His room was at the west end of third floor, right opposite of the girls' room while Nangong's room was at other end of the corridor, far from theirs. When Hao Ren reached his room, Vivian was already waiting there.

"Let's talk in your room," Vivian said while pointing at her room, "The big dog is dreaming now. She was gnawing on the table leg so be prepared to pay for the damage tomorrow."

"… Why didn't you stop her!"

Vivian showed him the bite mark on her arm and said, "Hehe."

Hao Ren had nothing to say.

The condition of the lodge at the countryside was so bad compared to the luxurious hotel in Central London. Each room was furnished with just a bed, a desk and a chair. However, a room like this did more in helping him unwind and relax. Vivian and Hao Ren sat on the bed. He roughly told Vivian about the story he heard just now and was quite worried about it. "I heard that a lot of people are gathering around the castle. Many of which are crazy enough to bring their own tents or drive there in their motor homes. They don't stay in the town but instead, encamp outside the castle, waiting to catch sight of the ghosts. It's no longer viable if we want to search for the client discreetly."

"That means to say that regardless whether we act tonight or tomorrow, there will be not much difference?" Vivian blinked. "I was scouting that area just now and found something interesting."

"?" asked Hao Ren.

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Chapter 47: Take Off!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"I've found something." Vivian snapped her fingers and a thin layer of fog started to form at a corner of the room. The fog quickly converged and transformed into bats, flying above and over Vivian's shoulders.

For all the time spent with the two superwomen, Hao Ren had seen enough of their supernatural tricks; especially Lily's doggy tail and Vivian's pet bats. He played with one of the little bats, studying it and looking for differences from wild bats. "What did you find?" Hao Ren asked.

"Leave the bats alone. They're duplicates of me. They share my senses," Vivian warned Hao Ren as she smacked away his hand. "I sent the bats out to the castle ruins. Something is in there—the aura of wraiths, of hundreds of years... and lots of them too."

A chill rushed down Hao Ren's spine. Although he had been expecting his tenant to be a wraith, he could not help but shiver at the mention of the spooky thing. "Really? Lots of them? Raven 12345 told me there was only one tenant. Now what? Pick one?"

"Hold your horse, Hao Ren. The wraiths' aura isn't the same as the usual stuff we know of." Vivian shook her head. "These ones are buried underground and were discovered only when the bats went into a caved-in underground tunnel. I found no entrance or specific source of the aura but, I'm sure the wraiths are still contained in a completely intact environment. So, we can deduce from here that there should be no spirits roaming freely on the surface.

Hao Ren quickly collected his thoughts and came to a conclusion. "If the ghosts were already contained and buried underground, there shouldn't have been any movement in the castle. So, the sightings of paranormal activities..."

"There's another possibility. If the wraiths' power is strong enough, their aura could have been felt and seen by ordinary folks on the surface, causing hallucinations or even memory distortions. However, it's been donkey's years since such strong phenomenon last happened. I think the demon hunters would have cleaned up the place a long time ago."

Hao Ren spread his hands in a self-deprecating gesture. "Why am I being dragged into this?"

But he noticed that the expression on Vivian's face changed. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nangong is moving." Vivivan frowned. "I have a bat hanging outside his window. I can see him prepping his gears... he's gone out!"

"At this time of the night?" Hao Ren was slightly surprised. "This guy's an eager beaver. He just got here! I think this demon hunter is really something."

All the while, Hao Ren had not really taken Nangong seriously. Even if Nangong knew a thing or two about demon hunters, he could not have been anywhere near a pro (judging from his high-profile conduct). So, Hao Ren did not expect the guy to be so commited,. It was not a quality a charlatan would normally possess.

Vivian ran toward the windows without saying a word. She gestured Hao Ren to come over. "See? He's coming out of the door. I wonder how he's going to the castle. The castle is at least dozens of kilometers away; this dude isn't a local and certainly doesn't have a car. Moreover, no cab would ever want to go to that place at this time of the night. Does he know some kind of magic?"

Hao Ren and Vivian rested their hands on the ledge as they peeked out from behind the window. Nangong arrived and stood stiffly at the entrance of the lodge. Instead of a huge suitcase, Nangong was carrying a smaller one―black in color. He was in his customary white top and black pants, which the standard description of a salesperson. As Vivian had analyzed before, Nangong was not a local and he did not drive. How was he going to reach the castle dozens of kilometers away at that hour of the night?

"Demon hunters can move at a speed in excess of 100km/h and some can even perform short-distance flight as well as near-field teleportation." Vivian frowned as she continued, "He's making some weird hand gestures now. Does he really possess the power of magic?"

Hao Ren's mind was running wild as he imagined the kind of tricks Nangong was going to pull off—Windwalking, Warg Possession, Ancestral Spirits and whatnot. He would not have been surprised at all if a magic circle had popped up out of nowhere. However, his jaw-dropped when a car pulled out from the garage behind the lodge. Angus, the fat owner of Angus' Lodge was behind the wheel. As the car pulled up in front of the entrance, Nangong nodded at Angus. At the same time, an Indian guy in a full monk's robe and a burly European in a Batman suit had walked out from the lodge, tailing Nangong into the car. Hao Ren could clearly see that they were chipping in for the fare...

Vivian said sheepishly, "Car-pooling... it seems like the lodge's owner is branching out into the transportation business."

"...I guess I'm just thinking too much." Hao Ren thought.

It seemed that the ruins attracted strange people from all over the world. It was not clear why these international paranormal enthusiasts came out in flocks. Probably because they had been waiting for such a moment for a long time.

After Angus and the other demon hunters went on their way, Vivian nudged Hao Ren and said, "We'll set off too. Tonight."

Hao Ren was baffled. "Didn't you say that we had to stay away from demon hunters, especially Nangong?"

"I just changed my mind. I'm afraid that if any of them find the new tenant before we do, we'll be in trouble. I'm sure there will be more people like them coming. So, we can't afford to wait for the rush to subside. It could take days or even months. And things will get even more unpredictable by then."

Hao Ren thought Vivian had a point yet, he was a bit worried as he glanced at the bedroom door. "I've had enough sleep myself but Lily...she won't rise from her sweet dream any time sooner than midnight. Are we still taking her along or not?"

Vivian checked her watch and said, "No worries, she'll be awake in a while. She has a weird talent; she can run while still remaining asleep. She'll be totally awake by the time we reach the castle."

Hao Ren had no further concerns. He quickly followed Vivian into the room. Lily was tossing and turning in bed but she was still in her day clothes. Apparently, she was taken to bed by Vivian while she was asleep and Vivian did not care to help her change into her nightgown. Nevertheless. it saved Hao Ren the trouble.

Truth be told, Hao Ren was actually eagerly expecting to see the werewolf maiden donning a thin nightgown. But obviously, his wish was not granted.

"Look, the table leg." Vivian pointed at the bedside table. Hao Ren immediately noticed something. One of the table legs had been gnawed in the middle. What was left behind was in the shape of a gourd. Chunks of wooden chips littered her bed and the floor beneath it. There was still a small piece jutting out the corner of Lily's mouth.

Needless to say, Lily had had a dream about a bone feast.

"Hey, wake up big dog!" Vivian violently shook Lily out of her bed. She was jolted awake by the abrupt fall before hitting the floor. She opened her eyes and vaguely saw Hao Ren there. She asked, "Landlord, is it breakfast time?"

"No, it's medicine time!" Vivian hauled Lily up. "Get ready. We're going to the castle. Just follow us. We'll explain everything when we get there."

Still in her hypnagogic state, Lily mumbled in acknowledgment and fell into autopilot mode before uttering, "Landlord, I dreamed that you cooked some stewed ribs for me. It was finger-lickin' good..."

Hao Ren remained silent.

Three of them left the lodge unnoticed under the guise of Vivian's black fog. The lodge sat on the edge of the small town. Before long, they had already left the the town and entered the vast wilderness. Suddenly, something came to Hao Ren's mind. "They have a car but what about us?"

All of a sudden, a huge pair of bat wings stretched open from Vivian's and she took off with Hao Ren into the night sky. A broad smile was seen on her face. "We'll take a flight. Let the big dog run!"

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Chapter 48: The Castle

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The moon was a ghostly, silver disc, hanging in the lonely sky. The desolate wilderness was devoid of any human signs. The only sound heard was the flapping of Vivian's wings. The bat-winged vampire maiden swept through the air in the night sky. As the moonlight shone on Vivian, she turned into a moving, blurry shadow. Her vampire aura was completely hidden under the guise of the moonlight. As she was not sure whether the paranormal events in the castle had attracted real demon hunters, she had to remain on high alert and she used the power of the moonlight to camouflage.

Hanging under Vivian's body, Hao Ren was agitated. "Actually I wanted to say no to flying. At least give me some time―"

"Be sensible," Vivian was heard saying from above.

"... to work up to it. I'm acrophobic. My heart can't take it!"

"Well, you just have to overcome it!" Vivian lowered her head to take a look at Hao Ren. Unapologetically, she said, "Enjoy the ride. Not everyone has the privilege to fly with the Blood Clan. You know, humans are simply heavy and troublesome."

Hao Ren felt awkward being carried like that by the maiden. But on the bright side, no one saw it and it was a new experience for him, he thought. Initially, he was nervous. He was unsure whether the vampire maiden could handle his weight or not. If she lost her grip on him, he doubted the bioenhancement given by Raven 12345 earlier could help him land in one piece. However, Vivian was no mortal. In terms of brute force, she was not comparable to Lily but, she could carry an adult and fly for dozens of kilometers at the same time. No sweat.

They were flying high up in the night sky but Hao Ren could clearly see the terrain under the moonlight. A tiny, silvery shadow was moving fast on the ground. It was Lily. She had transformed into a werewolf. Her silver, long hair and canine tail could be clearly seen. She was running on her four limbs to keep up with their pace.

Amazingly, the werewolf maiden was running while sleeping. As if she was in autopilot mode, she could track the vampire's flight path solely based on her olfactory senses. Even Vivian could not hold back her admiration for the werewolf's unusual ability. Lily could have very well become one of the top brass in the werewolf world solely based on this special talent if not for her happy-go-lucky attitude.

The trio arrived at Yorkford Castle in their unusual way. They mostly avoided the main road. Vivian even sent a bat to trail Angus' car. Nangong and the like had no idea they were being followed—he did not even bother to peek out from behind the car's window.

"There it is, the Yorkford Castle," Vivian broke the silence from above after a long flight. Hao Ren looked ahead and saw what was left of the castle. It was a pile of ruins but judging from the size of it, he could tell the castle had its glory days. "We'll land there."

Vivian landed right where she intended. Hao Ren could not wait to stretch to lessen the numbness in his arms. Although it was still summer, the cold, night wind at a high altitude was not very forgiving. He could have been frozen to death if he had stayed up there a little longer. As he gave himself a little massage on his arms, a white shadow flitted past with great speed, kicking up a cloud of dust in his face.

The shadow stopped only after it crashed into a large rock, which was a few meters high several hundred meters ahead...

A loud bang ensued. The rock was crushed into thousands of pieces instantly and someone was heard moaning in pain. Hao Ren ran towards the voice and found Lily, the werewolf maiden lying there. She was completely covered in dust from head to toe. She finally awakened, albeit not naturally.

Vivian was dumbfounded. "Now, that pighead could moonlight as a jackhammer in a quarry!"

As Lily got up from the ground, one of her ears drooped lifelessly, possibly due to the impact. She shook off the dust and stone chips from her head and body. She seemed to be okay. She grabbed and swung Hao Ren's arm while she boasted, "Look Landlord, didn't I keep up with you guys? The winged-vampire isn't that fast after all!"

Vivian tossed her hair and said, "Yeah, get real! The last time I checked, I was carrying a man. Why don't you do the same and we'll see who goes faster next time?"

"Shh, that's enough," Hao Ren chided and put the argument to rest. There was a moving light coming towards them but it was still far away at the bottom of a hill. Without haste, he hurried Vivian and Lily. "We have to move now. We just attracted attention thanks to you, Lily—your great impact."

The trio left the messy 'landing site' and moved behind a mound. The mound, which was closer to the castle offered a better view of the ruins.

The Yorkford Castle was situated on high ground but its location was not exactly strategic for a defensive position. The surrounding terrain was almost flat. The castle itself had mostly collapsed, leaving behind a large pile of grey stones. It appeared to be sitting on a rectangular-shaped foundation but other than that, the castle was mostly unrecognizable and lifeless.

There was a small group of lights nearby. A few tents and large vehicles could clearly be seen under the moonlight. The shadows of humans flashed around as they passed in front of the lights. Those people were most likely paranormal enthusiasts.

There were more than a handful of them but not as many as Hao Ren had thought. Ghost enthusiasts who went to great lengths like camping out in the wild at night to seek paranormal entities were still of the minority.

Obviously, he was confusing ghostbusting and a temple fair.

"Nangong has arrived," Vivian pointed to a distant moving pair of lights. It became clearer as it came nearer. It was the off-road vehicle of Angus, the lodge's owner. Nangong was sitting in the rear and he was seriously looking like a ghostbuster.

"Oh, wait." Hao Ren sensed that something was not right. He rubbed his eyes before casting his sight over to the distant darkness. "Vivian, how's your eyesight at night?"

"Pretty good for a typical nocturnal creature." Vivian nodded.

"Can you see that there are three dead trees in that direction? And under one of them is one... Errr... two large rocks."

"Yup, as clear as day," Vivian replied impetuously but quickly came to a realization after what Hao Ren had said. "Wait a minute, you mean you can actually see that?"

Hao Ren rubbed his eyes again. He did not realize he was having an unusual vision throughout the journey. Despite the darkness and the not-so-helpful moonlight, he could still see things as clear as day. The dead trees he had seen were at least two or three kilometers away yet, he could see each and every branch on them.

"This is...this is what Raven 12345 was talking about?" Hao Ren suddenly understood what Raven 12345 told him before he departed. "Bioenhancement will be activated under the right circumstances. Is this what she was talking about?"

Hao Ren was in seventh heaven. Luck was not on his side up to that point and he finally felt he had something to cheer about.

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Chapter 49: Holy Moly, Ghosts Are Real!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren was busy studying the changes his body was experiencing. He believed his super vision was part of what Raven 12345 had promised him when he went through the bioenhancement—he had no doubt about it. A normal human being could not have possibly seen things as far as two or three kilometers away, not even in the brightest daylight.

He was engrossed in his newfound ability and totally forgot about his purpose of being there. The ability was not an inconvenience and his normal vision was not affected. His night vision was only activated by consciously focusing his eyes. It was like having inbuilt night vision goggles, which he could easily switch between modes to suit his needs.

"Raven was right." He was elated and he rubbed his temples. "The bioenhancement is gradually being activated as my body begins to adapt. There are no side effects and the transition is pretty smooth too."

"Well, well,well... That's just a little night vision improvement," Vivian jeered. "You're still just as normal in every other aspect."

"Don't forget, I'm a normal human being to begin with. So, a little more than normal is a huge step for me." Hao Ren said solemnly. "Just imagine, if you never had more than 200 bucks in your pocket for all of your life and suddenly, you were given 1000 bucks to spend all the time. How would you feel?"

The simile struck Vivian. Her eyes started to glow.

"See? Now you get it."

Lily had cleaned off the grass and dust from herself. Glancing at the castle, she asked, "When do we go in there? Landlord, any signal from your MDT?"

"The tenant's supposed to be here now." Hao Ren realized he had a job to do. He scratched his head before flashing out his MDT. He then asked, "Hey, did you get anything?"

"Nothing. There is still no sign of the target. Please stay where you are and wait."

After that, the MDT went back to standby mode. Hao Ren knocked the MDT, trying to wake it up again. "The device is pondering about life at the moment. Please do not disturb." It flashed a line of holographic message before falling back into silence.

"Bad manners." Hao Ren stared helplessly at the MDT before turning his eyes to the nearby camps. "I wonder why those demon hunters just stay put at the camp site and not go into the ruins. Aren't they here for the ghosts?"

"Maybe they're reluctant for some reason. Who wouldn't think twice about venturing into such ruins?" Vivian looked up at the moon. "The clouds are blocking the moonlight right now. If there are any wraiths in there, we'll find out now."

Hao Ren became tensed instantly but it seemed like the demon hunters at the camp site were ignorant of the changing atmosphere. Equipped with various strange instruments as well as dressed in weird robes, these ghost fans gathered in groups of two or three in front of their tents and vehicles. Hao Ren could hear their faint chatter and laughter. Some of them even spread out picnic blankets and started an outdoor feast. None of them were ready to hit the sack even though it was already midnight. They truly were a bunch of nocturnal creatures. It was more like a masquerade than a ghostbusting operation. Even the burly European man who traveled in one car with Nangong joined the booze party.

Angus, the lodge's owner however, was not eager to join them. He had a little talk with Nangong before getting back into his vehicle. He proceeded to head back to town. So, it appeared that Nangong had no plans of going back that night.

Amid the hoo-ha, Nangong and the Indian monk stood out from the rest. They did not mingle with the others or carry any strange instruments with them. Some demon hunters, who were donned like alchemists called out and invited the both of them for a drink. However, the duo did not give a damn about the boozers. They moved away, found a serene spot and began to inspect their instruments respectively.

Nangong opened his black suitcase and took out a small but strange-looking crossbow. The little crossbow was more like a work of art than a weapon. Its size was so small that its actual usefulness was doubtful. Nangong carefully kept the crossbow close to his body. He then took out a strip of fabric with many small arrows attached to it and tied it around his waist. From the pocket of his suitcase, he flung out a monocle—like a prop on a movie set— and put it on. Presumably, these were all part of his preparation.

Meanwhile, the Indian monk fished out a jar of spices from his colorful robe. He spread the spices on his own body and his surroundings while he muttered some incantations. Unlike the other frivolous paranormal enthusiasts, the tall, skinny Indian monk was totally solemn, composed in his conduct and was more like a demon hunter than even Nangong. Hao Ren's eyes were fixed on the monk. He felt the monk had the temperament of a great master.

However, not everyone could see that. The group of European men saw the spices. They bought a pack from the monk and used it to marinate their barbecue meat...

Hao Ren had lost his faith in the demon hunters.

Were they seeking out their own doom?

"Look." Hao Ren pointed at Nangong and the monk. His upgraded vision had enabled him to see every minute detail of their movement. "These two guys really mean business. They're totally unlike the other jokers."

"It looks like they have something up their sleeves." Vivian frowned. "Nangong seems to know the tricks of the trade. I thought he was just another charlatan. Look at his arrows—they're made of silver and contain anti-demon properties. The arrowhead are producing a bluish glow under the moonlight. However, the Indian monk's spices really make me uncomfortable despite the distance.

Hao Ren was shocked. Vivian, the living fossil of the first-class Blood Clan was wary of spices?

"The Indian monk's a real expert?"

"I dislike curry," Vivian said as she frowned. "I was in India a couple of years back. And after having their curry, I had bad diarrhea."

Hao Ren had nothing to say.

Suddenly, their surroundings became darker. Hao Ren looked up and saw that a thick layer of clouds in the night sky had completely blocked out the moonlight.

At that very moment, Hao Ren faintly heard a soft whimper in the air.

"Movement in the castle." Lily's tail was in a puffed state and her golden eyes were glowing. "There's light."

Of course, Hao Ren had also noticed the movement in the castle. It happened just when the moonlight was being completely blocked. There were several beams of light in the castle ruins and they appeared for only a few seconds before going dark and reappearing in another part of the ruins. At that moment, a mysterious wind swept towards them from the ruins—there was no wind in their surroundings though.

Hao Ren swallowed nervously. "Holy moly... ghosts are real!"

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Chapter 50: Haunted?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The mysterious happenings in the castle ruins finally caught the attention of the ghostbusters encamped in the area. When the wind went howling through the cracks of the fallen pile of masonry and boulders, the camp became alive.

A whole group of funny looking 'experts' were stumbling about with their equipment. One was fiddling with an odd-looking radio device, some where lugging cameras which looked 50 years out of date, some were swinging about holding curved brass instruments and some just looked almost like jedis right out of Star Wars. The whole group of rushed in a horde towards the source of the sound in the ruins. Well, let us not talk about their actual combat abilities but it seemed like the whole lot, with their funny outfits may have spooked the ethereal residents there instead...

Of course, Hao Ren had the impulse to rush head first into the fray as well. However, as he saw the horde of ghostbusters surging towards the castle, the first thing that came to his mind was, "F*ck me, this won't be easy!"

Hao Ren was torn. On one hand, there was a chance his new tenant would be brutalized by the ghostbusters. On the other, there was also a chance of the new guy murdering everyone there. Things would not have been pretty either way and the thought of Raven 12345 crucifying him alive sent chills down his spine.

Just as he was about to rush in, Vivian pulled his collar. "Calm down, look at Nangong and that Indian monk."

Hao Ren took a good look and found that the two supposedly most excited duo (at least for Nangong, with what was in the ruins) stood still. Nangong was staring coldly at the bunch of supernatural enthusiasts blundering their way towards the ruins. He made a curt expression at the old monk about the whole bunch of amateurs while the monk's expression was that of a serene calm. Whether that was his normal air or his way of being unapproachable, he glanced at Nangong and went back to tending his incense.

Hao Ren was puzzled at the disinterest that the two had shown towards the brouhaha in the castle ruins. "What's wrong with them?"

"The spirits beneath the castle are quiet." Vivian frowned. "As for this, I'm not sure what is causing the ruckus but it certainly doesn't feel supernatural. Those two probably have their ways of identifying a real spirit. Let's not talk about that skinny, old coot of a monk. Nangong is the real deal, at least in terms of equipment. That monocle of his looks very familiar... doesn't seem like your average one."

The light within the ruins had faded by then but the howling was incessant across the highland. Along with it, was a clarion call and sounds of cantering horses, just as Angus had described. The crowd by then had already reached the boulders and were scouring about with their various ghost hunting gadgets. Those without any tools just simply sat down and started to chant prayers as well as sutras. Thankfully, no one had actually gone deep into the rock formations. Even as enthusiasts, these people probably still had the presence of mind to stay safe, especially since they believed the area to be truly haunted.

While all that was going on, Nangong and the old Indian monk had finished warming up. They started to walk slowly towards the ruins. Vivian, seeing this, tapped Hao Ren's shoulders and gestured him forward. "Lets go."

"So, have the evil spirits been awakened?" Hao Ren asked, sounding really edgy.

"Not yet, but something is definitely going on." The red glow from Vivian's eyes faded. She turned around and smacked Lily on the head. "You stupid dog, stash those ears and tail of yours. Do you want to be exposed?"

Only then did Lily realize she was in her feral form and quickly hid her otherworldly appendages. She quickly asked, "What should we do if we run into Nangong?"

"Let's try to avoid that. We'll go around the place." Hao Ren pointed towards the other side of the ruins, where a huge crack ran through the wall. "Let's not get entangled with the crowd. We'll try to get to the target as sneakily as possible. If we really run into someone, just hoodwink them into thinking we're ghost hunters like the rest. The same goes for Nangong as well. We aren't friends or anything so, we don't have to go into the details."

Hao Ren knew what he said was a best case scenario. If Nangong or the old monk were to sniff out what was going on, things would get nasty. They seemed to have genuine abilities to detect spirits and Hao Ren was very sure that his new tenant was one of the spirits there. Running into Nangong or the monk after collecting the 'package' was nothing but trouble. So, he thought the best way to avoid all of that was to avoid everybody.

It was by a stroke of good luck that Nangong and the monk were cooped together with the horde of ghostbusters on high ground. Hao Ren and the gang then managed to sneak in from the other side through the crack. The ruins itself was a big place and even if there were people brave enough to go in, Hao Ren believed that he would not run into anyone for a while. That is, if he was careful and the other two managed to not muck up one way or another.

"Wow...this place really got messed up," Hao Ren said as he slipped through the crack on the wall. What he saw was an empty space littered with rubble. It appeared to be part of the castle's long hall but with part of the masonry collapsed and the wooden structure rotten, it was no different than an empty plaza now. The only telltale signs of its original use were the surviving structures around it.

Vivian looked around with a tinge of melancholy. "Time really does change everything. I used to dream of having a castle of my own. People those days thought that vampires really did own castles. But... I couldn't even afford a small parcel of land..."

Hao Ren patted Vivian's shoulder to comfort her. "Let's not reminisce about your sad past. You can't even afford it now."

"... Can you not?"

Standing within the castle ruins, the howling sounded even clearer. However, it was due to the fact that there were plenty of rocks and wall structures which echoed the sound. It was pretty difficult to pinpoint the source of the howling and Lily took a good while to even get a bead on its general direction. "I think it's coming from there," Lily said as she pointed. "I'm using my human ear so, I can't hear it clearly."

Hao Ren looked towards the direction Lily was pointing at and found a rare structure that was still intact. It was rectangular in shape, almost like an independent structure by itself. Maybe because of that, it had survived the collapse of the castle.

"Seems like a small chapel," Vivian surmised. "I've seen the layout of castles like this. This stone building is definitely a chapel. A haunted chapel? This sounds just like those horror flicks."

Hao Ren thought Vivian had hinted at something else and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing of importance. Did you manage to detect the person?"

"Nope, nothing yet." Hao Ren was puzzled as well. He pulled out the MDT. "Hey, have you detected anything?"

"How would I know?" The MDT retorted defiantly. "That's your problem to solve. Lady 12345 said that if the new tenant is within a certain range from you, the sensors will trigger. If there's nothing, that means you are not at the right place. Go look around. Based on the information... hmm... it should be close by."

Hao Ren had half a mind to smash the MDT on the rocks. The other half was deathly afraid that he would have no way to fix it later. All he could do was muster a violent stare at the super, high tech device and carefully stow it back into his pouch.

At the same time, on the other side of the ruins, the group of ghostbusters had started doing their stuff. One was carrying a big radio, wired to a boatload of antennas protruding skywards with a giant spare battery pack. With his headphones clamped tightly onto his ears and his fingers carefully manipulating the dials of his improvised 'Spirit Listening Device', the man suddenly screamed. "I hear it! I can hear it! The spirit went into me through the antenna! I can feel it within me!"

Another man, dressed like an old detective with an old monochrome camera stared angrily at the man. "Please be quite. I'm trying to capture the spirit's picture... And oh, your headphone seems to be broken. I saw sparks earlier."

"Spirits! I see spirits floating above the castle!" A middle aged lady clad in purple screamed as she sat still on a rock. Her eyes turned white as she chanted. An even older witch beside her was even more outrageous with her chanting. She was foaming in her mouth...

Nangong, with his monocle on, stood amongst the delirious crowd. He only shook his head in amusement. Behind him was the Indian monk and both of them lowered their sights.

They did not seem to be staring at the ground but through it, at whatever that was hiding underneath.

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Chapter 51: A Burrow

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren did not know what the enthusiasts were up to but with the gear that was on them, he could roughly figure it out. Vivian on the other hand, was brutal in her assessment. "Those clowns there, a bunch of swindlers they are. Only Nangong and that monk seem somewhat legitimate."

Lily went about sniffing the floor. After a while she lifted her head and went, "Someone was here."

"Well... there have been a whole lot of visitors coming to the ruins. That's not really surprising." Hao Ren shrugged and he slowly made his way towards the chapel as cautiously as he could. "This sounds really scary, you sure everything is okay?"

"No problem. The spirits are still entombed underground." Vivian looked around as she activated her magical sight. Her eyes were a flash of crimson in the dark. "Listen, the howling has weakened."

Hao Ren gulped as he noticed that the howling from the castle had indeed weakened. Instead of reassuring him, it increased his uneasiness. While he could not feel or see the dead, the place was royally haunted to him.

The wooden door had already rotted away but the entrance was barred by some fallen masonry. Hao Ren slowly closed in towards the structure and found a slit amid the boulders. He took a peek through it and saw only darkness on the other side. There were little traces of wind alongside the cries of men and sound of horses coming from the building. As the structure was riddled with holes everywhere, it seemed like the weird noise within the building was not impeded and therefore, audible throughout the castle grounds.

Hao Ren licked his index finger and placed it into the crack. He solemnly nodded. "Yes, there's no wind."

"Of course, if there was, you would have been covered in dust and debris when you were peeking." Vivian pushed Hao Ren aside and waved towards Lily. "Over here, doggie. Move this out of the way."

Hao Ren was a little queasy. "Wait a minute, won't this disturb the dead?"

"What dead? I've fought real mummies before. Heck, I've even faced off with the pharaoh's guard as well. Go, doggie!"

"I dare you to say that again! I'll give you a big chomp if that's the last thing I do!" Lily was getting increasingly infuriated by Vivian's obvious disrespect towards her and protested menacingly. That said, it was a job well-suited for Lily, who was all brawn so, she went about moving the boulders.

As Lily tossed the first boulder aside, the noise from the chapel ceased.

"It stopped!" Hao Ren exclaimed. "I think I heard something in there. Did you guys hear it?"

Vivian slightly nudged her head towards the chapel, trying to catch the noise Hao Ren heard. At the same time, she gestured towards Lily. "Pay no heed, keep moving."

"Huurrrrummphhh!" Lily grunted as she lifted a boulder which looked like it weighed a tonne. She lifted it with ease and tossed it a good few meters aside as though the boulder was nothing. Hao Ren wisely stood a few meters away from Lily, fearing that the dumb werewolf would accidentally kill him with a stray toss. Nonetheless, he was still amazed by her feat of strength. "If only I had such strength..."

"She's all brawn only." Vivian twitched as she looked at Lily moving the boulders. She was smiling curtly. "The true source of strength is knowledge. Strength alone is no match for my blood magic. Just a curse alone will fell―"

"Go on..." Lily said as she turned around with a boulder lifted over her head.

Hao Ren who was beside Vivian quickly scrambled aside. "STOOPPP!!! I'm just a normal person you know? I'll die if that lands of me! If you two want to duke it out, let's go somewhere with no one around later"

Lily hissed bitterly and turned back to continue her labor. It was not long before the boulders were cleared from the entrance, with the last one being kicked away. The entrance of the chapel now stood open for them.

"Mr. Landlord, my shoe's torn..." Lily pointed towards her foot. Hao Ren took a glance and found that her white sport shoe had been torn open and her toes stuck out gloriously. Remember, she kicked that last boulder earlier? Other books do not even dwell on minute details like this...

"I'll get you a new one once we're back home. I suppose this counts as work expenditure." Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat of his head, ruing his fortune thus far. He carefully made his way into the chapel, curious to know what was actually inside.

Nonetheless, the sense of unease had not left Hao Ren. Even the bravest of men would not have rushed head first into an enclosed stone room, which was the source of an eerie howl. With Vivian, who was ever proficient in sensing the dead, reassuring him that it was safe and Lily being a world class bodyguard, Hao Ren steeled himself for the ride. After all, he still had his pride as a man and feared that he would lose face in front of the two ladies if he backed down.

Although the entrance was previously sealed by the caved in boulders, the chapel itself was not in perfect condition. A crack here and a wreck there, it was pretty well ventilated. Hao Ren could not tell anything was rotting in there until Lily jumped in and kicked up a cloud of dust. Vivian frowned at the impetuous werewolf and a slight breeze formed. It blew away the dust around them as Vivian directed her spell with the usual grace of a vampire. Lily spat at her, "Oh... a little bit of dust and dirt's not befitting your stature, eh?"

The chapel itself was empty. The pews and pedestals were long gone. All that was left were fallen bricks scattered on the floor. The design of the chapel had a medieval feeling to it with tall, narrow windows flanking each side of the wall. The glass windows were also long gone and the pale glow of the moonlight seeped through the narrow window slits, making the place look even more eerie.

"The moon's out..." Lily stared at the windows. "Mr. Landlord... I feel like letting out a howl or two..."

Hao Ren had nothing to retort.

What kind of bloody habit was that?

Using his obtained special ability, Hao Ren could clearly see what was in the chapel. There was nothing out of the ordinary. No will o' wisps floating about, no hollowed knights cantering about on their skeletal steeds and no magical grimoires scattered on the floor. It seemed like everything had ended even before he stepped in. The chapel was but an ordinary chapel.

Lily got on all fours and started sniffing. "Mr. Landlord... there was someone here, I caught a scent of a living person..."

Vivian walked towards a corner of the chapel and waved towards a stone panel. A gust of crimson mist rushed towards the panel and a sizzling crackle rang as the mist ate through the panel violently. It was not long before the panel was nothing but ash, revealing a small entrance into a burrow. "Whoever the person was, he ran through here."

"A person? You mean whoever pulled that stunt was a living person? How did you know?" Hao Ren looked at Vivian in shock. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"I did sense a living being hiding in here and I wanted to see what he was up to. Never thought that he was the one playing pranks." Vivian shrugged. "He ran away after Lily tossed the first boulder aside. So much for having acute senses. A human slipped away under your nose."

"I was busy lifting boulders! I wasn't paying attention!" Lily angrily retorted.

Hao Ren ignored the bickering duo and went towards the entrance of the burrow. "Should we go in there?"

"You can wait up here if you want to." Vivian took a look at the burrow's entrance, clearly unfazed by it. "Although I'm pretty sure that it's just a normal person, we still don't know what's underneath so, there could be danger."

What Vivian said rubbed Hao Ren the wrong way. He was destined to be the king of babysitters, with so many oddball tenants coming his way. Surely, a man playing ghost in a castle's ruins could not so much as faze him!?

"Get out of my way. I'm a vanguard," Hao Ren said as he pushed the ladies aside. Without anymore thought, he leapt into the burrow. "Fuuuuuuc―!"

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Chapter 52: The Haunting

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren was sure he had taken a good look. He had gauged that he was manageable distance away from solid ground before taking that leap of faith. It did not take long for the glorious "Fuuuuuuc―" to echo throughout the place. His brash action caught both Vivian and Lily by surprise. Lily quickly stuck her head through the entrance and yelled, "Mr. Landlord, Mr. Landlord, are you okay?"

"I'm... fine! It's a giant cavern down here!"

Hao Ren yelled back as he squinted to adjust his vision. His voice was overcome with amazement.

It was pitch black down there, way darker than it was outside. Except for the faint moonlight that came through the entrance, there was no other source of light in the cavern. It was difficult for Hao Ren to make out the place even with his night vision ability. Only by fully concentrating was he able to see with any form of clarity.

It seemed that his night vision ability was still bound to normal optical limitations and he had a long way to go before he could visually scan the area using just his mind. Well, that in itself was a long shot. He was not even sure if his current ability would evolve with time or mastery.

Hao Ren landed on a ledge after he leapt. It was probably made so that whoever needed to use the passageway had an easier way to get back to the surface. Ahead of the ledge was a slight slope leading into something which amazed Hao Ren; tunnels, giant tunnels.

The castle was built upon solid ground and the vast cavern was more than proof enough of the fact. In fact, it was so vast that Hao Ren could only gawk in awe. It was much much bigger than the usual underground structure one would see in normal castles. Hao Ren stood in front of a tunnel fork, with each of the three tunnels leading into another equally vast area. The tunnels appeared to have been built using giant boulders and pillars made out of unknown material. It was even more surprising that they actually stood the test of time.

As an amateur in construction engineering, Hao Ren was awed. Each tunnel could have easily fit a car in it. Their ceilings were about three meters high from the ground, with the tunnels converging into a T-junction in front of him. Needless to say, there were probably grander and larger areas further in.

It looked like the chapel was a convergence point where many tunnels crossed each other.

Hao Ren was still staring at the tunnel structure when Vivian and Lily came up behind him. They had taken his lead and followed him using the same slope to his location.

"Wow... the Lord of Yorkford was definitely something... This underground structure is beyond normal." Vivian knew from experience that the scale of the tunnels did not match the structure above ground at all. "Could it be that this castle was under a long siege before? And the amount of refugees wereso great that he needed such a big space? There's even a junction..."

Hao Ren looked at Vivian quizzically. "I thought you've never been to England after 1190? How do you know about the architecture of English castles built after that? I've been wanting to ask you this since just now..."

"...Yes, I wasn't in England for a while but, I was around continental Europe..." Vivian gave Hao Ren a bitter look. "Yes, I was poor but it wasn't because I couldn't afford the toll that I didn't visit England for almost a millennium... I was visiting somewhere else! The castle structure and layout in this region is almost the same anyway. The only difference is probably the scale but still it's not that foreign to me."

By then, Lily had already circled the area, sniffing for clues. She suddenly sprinted towards one of the tunnels as she caught the scent of human. She eagerly called for the two, "Over here, there's someone's scent here!"

Hao Ren felt that he was no different than a K-9 officer with Lily as his sniffer dog.

The three of them followed the trail of the scent in what could be called an underground castle (the scale of it was simply huge). Hao Ren was worried that the air would thin out the deeper they got into the tunnel but, the air was surprisingly fresh and a slight breeze could be felt from time to time. It did seem like there were pockets of air tunnels leading to the surface that were still open. This added to the mystique and awe Hao Ren had towards the lord's effort in creating the underground fortress.

Vivian was busy analyzing the place. " I thought the castle lord was just your run of the mill noble but it does appear like he wasn't someone to be trifled with. The building of this underground structure would have taken an enormous amount of resources. However, this area is located on a flat plain and it's not a strategic military location. It really boggles me as to why the Lord of Yorkford would painstakingly build this..."

"Was it because of a betrayal that the castle had to be abandoned?" Hao Ren mused. "Or because of a series of civil wars that led him to build a fortress like this?"

"Oh, you ignoramus..." Vivian glared at Hao Ren. "You think it's easy building something like this a few hundred years ago? It would have taken generations for it to get to this scale. I think the Lords of Yorkford had been expanding and reinforcing this place for at least 200 years. Besides, this is England not China, where peasants could be mobilized in the millions to build a wall. A lord of a normal English holding would have had very limited manpower at his disposal... How did he do it? Hmm..."

Vivian quickened her step as she took lead. By then, the darkness around them was absolute and Hao Ren's night vision was totally rendered useless. He dug his pouch for the MDT and used the screen as a makeshift torch. The area around them was lit up instantly by the bright screen. Curiously, a red line ran across the screen of the MDT as the device protested " Usage error... Usage error... I would suggest that you look for a more conventional approach..."

Hao Ren ignored the MDT and moved forward.

After a few minutes, Hao Ren felt that they were slowly descending, as though the path they were on was leading into a deeper part of the labyrinth. He had totally forgotten about Nangong and the bunch of supernatural enthusiasts above ground. Somehow, the total darkness underground was a good thing. He was far away from the crowd and if he ran into the target there, it would make things much simpler.

"So... is it true that this place is haunted? Lily uncharacteristically approached Vivian to ease her boredom. "I wonder who it could be? Is it true that there are ghosts underground?"

"Hmm... the one trying to spook us is definitely human. I can't quite fathom why he would want to do this though." Vivian shrugged nonchalantly. "As for ghosts... eh. Why are you shivering, Mr. Landlord?"

Hao Ren could not help but cry, "You guys just f*cking reminded me about the ghosts down here! I was trying to keep them out of my mind but now... gosh!"

Vivian cynically patted him. "Oh, don't you worry. Meeting one will be part and parcel of your job."

Lily, who was now taking point started sniffing again. "Just ahead, there's someone near us! He seems to have stopped moving."

The straight stretch that they had been moving in finally came to a bend and a faint glimmer of light could be seen around the corner. Hao Ren wanted to go in head first but was restrained by Vivian. "Wait up, I think it's better if we put on a cloak of invisibility. Better to hide our identities if we run into a commoner."

A swirl of mist rose around Vivian as she spoke. Since Hao Ren had a weird immunity to magic, she was unable to cast her illusion spell on him and had to rely on an area-of-effect spell to hide themselves. Hao Ren looked at the swirling black mist around them and really felt like they were the ones best suited to haunt the place.

Vivian softly reminded the two. "Stay within the mist. And you, doggie, stop wrinkling your nose. This mist is actually minty, you know! I also got rid of the blood scent just to shut you up so, no complaints!"

Under the cover of the illusionary mist, they slowly approached the bend and caught a glimpse of someone's back.

It was a short, stocky man with a mining lamp over his hard hat. He was lugging a strange box and milling about in front of a stone wall.

It was Angus, the lodge owner.

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Chapter 53: The Truth?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Angus?" Hao Ren recognized the man ahead from his back. His dumpy figure and the slightly bald patch on the back of his head had left a deep impression on Hao Ren. "He's the one creating all this mess?"

Angus had yet to notice what was behind him. His attention was fully focused on the dark, stone wall in front of him. The towering stone wall blocked the tunnel, turning it into a dead end. Angus was anxiously leaning on the stone wall, groping for any hidden buttons or exits but it all seemed like a waste of effort. It was unclear how long he had been struggling there.

Angus was wearing a headlamp and carrying a strange black box on his back, which looked like a self-powered stereo. He was obviously not there by accident. He was in fact, entering the place for a purpose. Angus was the first person who reported the incident of the strange sound coming from the chapel. It was so obvious that Hao Ren immediately associated him with the incident. He walked two steps forward without covering up his footsteps and finally got Angus's attention. The tubby boss shivered furiously when he heard the movement behind his back and froze like he was just shocked by electricity. The three of them waited patiently for a few seconds. Angus finally turned around like a stiff puppet, still trembling.

When the beam of his headlamp swept across the dark tunnel, the owner saw a dark cloud of undulating fog swarming before him. He was shocked and let out a piercing shriek. "Ahh!" This was definitely not a scene a normal man could take.

The sudden screams of the lodge owner frightened Hao Ren. Now, both of them were frightened by each other. Vivian waved him quiet with her hand. She then cleared her throat, speaking in a sharp and weird tone, "What are you doing here?"

Hao Ren threw Vivian a weird look and thought, " Such a crafty vampire. You even got an audio mixer in you."

Angus was shivering even more when he heard the scary sound coming from the dark fog. He forgot to answer Vivian's question but kept making the sign of the cross. He was sweating heavily while saying, "God, protect me. God, please save me… I didn't do anything bad… I did nothing bad…"

"I'm asking you. What are you jabbering about?" Vivian spoke with her devilish voice in an uncouth manner. "Hey, can you please stop trembling? I will release the dog if you don't cooperate!"

Hao Ren thought for a few seconds and pulled Vivian's sleeve as he whispered, "…You can't communicate with anyone here with that level of English."

Vivian was silent.

"Let me ask him." Hao Ren could not help but push the silly vampire aside. He knew that it was better to disguise his voice as well. Therefore, he communicated with the Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) in his head and asked, "Can you alter my voice? Like Vivian did hers."

"Alter your voice? R-CH-365B plug-in installed. Now, nobody can recognize your voice."

Hao Ren felt the air in front of him was condensed in a strange way. He quietly thanked the advanced technology of aliens and said, "What are you doing here?" His voice echoed through the tunnel like a dull thunder.

After finishing his sentence, Vivian poked his back and said, "Hey, do you have to exaggerate so much? You sound like a villain."

Hao Ren helplessly expressed that he could not control the alien digital assistant. None of its functions actually worked well!

Even though the fake voice created by the MDT was a little too much, the coercive evil voice successfully frightened the lodge owner. Angus was pulled out of his incoherent praying right away. He sat on the floor and begged, "O honorable souls of the knights, I'm just a small businessman living nearby. I didn't mean to disturb you… I live near Yorkford. Yes, I'm from Yorkford, under your reign. Can you please let me go by virtue of The Knight's Code?"

Evidently, Angus took the dark fog in front of him and the horrible voices coming from it for the real ghosts. Though he was the man behind the scenes, he did not look daring at all. He lost his head easily when faced with an unusual situation.

Hao Ren thought it was all just a misunderstanding at that moment. Therefore, he did not expose himself and continued asking, "Are you playing tricks in the castle everyday? Were you the one responsible for the mess in the castle during these past two days?"

Angus was surprised that the dark fog could talk to him. Although he was still trembling, he became calmer when he found that the 'evil ghost' could possibly communicate with him. "It was… It was me but I did it inside the castle. I didn't mean to alarm the souls beneath…"

"Why are you doing this?"

Angus wondered why the 'ghost knight' in the dark fog was curious about what he was doing. However, he dared not ask too much. He just answered whatever questions that were thrown at him. "My lodge was going out of business so I wanted to create some kind of hype… but I didn't expect it to become so famous!"

The truth had come to light.

The uproarious case of Yorkford's haunted castle was just a fraud. It was fake news created by a bleak business owner in order to attract tourists. Perhaps Angus did not expect things to go so far. Apparently, he underestimated the power of idle media and the strong execution of the ghost hunters. It was beyond his expectation that a small case of a haunted castle would be magnified on TV and developed to such an extent..

Hao Ren took advantage of the lodge owner's cooperativeness and grabbed the chance to get more details on the night's happenings. The details of his tricks were getting clearer little by little. The will-o'-the-wisp which appeared in the castle was just a light set up in the crack of a rock earlier. And the howling of the wind echoing through the castle was simply coming from the big speaker box on his back. Everything was just so ridiculous.

Angus was an old resident in the town of Brewshire. He had been living there since he was little. He was mischievous and he used to run around the town when he was a teenager. During that time, he used to explore the castle frequently. That was when he discovered the crypt under the castle which somehow had not collapsed. This was a secret that nobody knew.

The remote town rarely attracted visitors. Though the situation was not too bad many years ago, things were going downhill in recent years. It was difficult to maintain the business. When the lodge almost went out of business, Angus finally drew his attention to the old castle.

Brewshire was not a business hub or near the thoroughfare. It did not have any special products as well. The only possible way to attract visitors was the old castle. If the castle became a tourist spot, the business problem could then be easily solved.

Hence, Angus got this daring idea: the haunted castle. All that mattered was to make it famous.

The tricks were carried out according to his plans during the past few days. He was familiar with the structure of the castle and knew where to hide the props. Also, he was cautious of its surroundings. He could always pack his things up and leave the spot before the daring ghost hunters entered the ruins. The secret tunnels and doors under the castle were another advantage for him. Even when people suddenly popped up in the castle, he could always leave the spot or hide himself via the secret doors hidden in the castle. No one was aware of the secret doors or tunnels in the castle at all.

Through Angus's hard work, every curious tourist who visited the castle would get him free publicity. As such, the rumor of Yorkford's haunted castle was spread fast. Of course, another reason that allowed the rumor to continue developing was people's boredom in general. People did not mind visiting fake haunted houses in the park, not to mention a 'real' haunted castle.

Now, there was one bizarre incident left unsolved. When Angus reported the hauntings to the police, he mentioned a case where, "…many had seen the blaze coming from the castle." It was not one of his fabrications and he was so confident about witnessing the big fire even when facing Hao Ren. The bizarre fire was in fact, the inspiration for the idea of a haunted castle.

What happened to the fire then?

The castle was dozens of kilometers away from Brewshire. Even if there were only plains and nothing blocking the castle along the way, it was almost impossible to see a fire on the castle from the town. How big was the fire on the castle that people from town could see it from such a distance? The fire would have probably set the entire hill ablaze.

However, there was no way of knowing the details. Angus had no idea as well. They could then confirm that other than the fire, the rest was fake and Angus was the man behind them.

People were nosy. If someone claimed to see a UFO, the people around would automatically follow each others' gazes and agree with it. Angus did not expect to have no one debunking the fraud. This allowed the story to keep going on.

Angus had no way of backing down and just kept the ball rolling.

However, was it really all just a fraud?

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Chapter 54: The Stone Wall

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Angus's tricks had failed for the first time. He did not expect anybody to break into the chapel, which had been blocked by huge rocks. Usually, nobody could move those heavy rocks away without the help of a crane. Angus's plan was totally disrupted by the monstrous wolf who appeared out of the blue. He was in too much of a panic to clearly see who actually opened the door of the chapel. In order not to expose himself, he did not turn on his headlamp to look at the door. He was alarmed and quickly moved underground via a secret tunnel the moment Lily moved the first rock. After considering that the secret tunnel could have been discovered as well, he did not stay there but moved towards the exit following a route he memorized.

However, the previously unobstructed tunnel was now blocked by a stone wall.

"You mean this tunnel was unobstructed earlier?" Hao Ren was slightly surprised after listening to Angus's explanation. "Are you sure you're remembering it correctly?"

"I've been using this tunnel for quite some time, it can't be wrong." Angus was too frightened to think straight a moment ago. However, after talking to the 'ghost' in the dark fog, he slowly came to his senses. He felt something was off and asked, "Eh, aren't you the ghost of this castle? How is it that you aren't clear of the situation underneath?"

"This has nothing to do with you. Just think of me as a visitor from the nearby graveyard, just stopping by this place. Can't a ghost have some privacy?" Hao Ren simply created an excuse and continued asking, "So, does this mean the castle isn't haunted at all? You've been playing tricks all along?"

"Ah… Yes," answered Angus and he peeped at the swarming dark fog under the beam of his headlamp. It was the first time he ever saw a 'real' ghost in his life. He thought it was quite different from what he had previously imagined and continued to explain, "I really didn't want to disturb the honored souls underneath. I just borrowed the top part of the ruins. I really meant no harm. People often do this in today's age. It isn't wrong to make money from cultural relics. If we think about it from another angle, there could be an opportunity for the castle to be repaired and renovated…"

"You're really good at creating stories." Hao Ren thought that the lodge owner had quick wits. He could create big news out of nothing. Hao Ren then turned to Vivian and whispered, "Now what? What to do with this tubby man?"

"So, are you done asking?" After confirming with Hao Ren, Vivian lifted her finger and pointed at Angus. "That's it."

A faint, red light split from the dark fog and faded into Angus's body in a flash. He fell onto the ground without a sound and remained motionless.

Hao Ren immediately jumped and said, "Hey, I was just asking you how to get rid of him not kill—"

"I just stunned him temporarily." Vivian gave Hao Ren an odd look and said, "What are you thinking about? Did you watch a vampire movie again last night? I told you not to watch those kind of movies too much. They are misleading."

Hao Ren had nothing to say. He glanced at the chubby owner on the ground and felt it was not suitable to leave him here. He then signaled Lily to come over and said, "Send him up there and put him at a safe place. And keep an eye on those ghost hunters by the way."

"Okay!" Lily nodded. She picked Angus up lightly and ran out swiftly.

Hao Ren shook his head as he watched Lily run out. He found the whole situation annoying yet funny. "So, this is it? The lodge owner was actually quite creative."

Although Angus had bamboozled everybody, Hao Ren did not really blame him. It was not a serious crime after all. Additionally, there were other marketing gimmicks from various tourist spots and theme parks. Angus's idea could not possibly compete with them at all. However, the whole case really left him speechless. The uproarious haunted castle was merely a simple idea created by a lodge owner to attract more customers. Nobody found out about the mystery within. It really shows that life is just a joke.

Of course, Angus's plan would not have lasted. More and more paranormal enthusiasts came and gathered around the castle. There would have probably been some kind of expert or retired expert and scholar from the TV program "Approach to Science" among them. Sooner or later the lodge owner's tricks would stop working for them. Hao Ren could tell that the Angus did not plan to stop at all. The haunted castle brought him non-stop customers. On top of that, the trick was not going to be exposed at that particular moment. The TV program kept adding fuel to the flame in order to increase audience's ratings. How could the lodge owner stop? He just repeated the hauntings every few days.

Anyway, it would have been exposed sooner or later. You see, wasn't it finally exposed?

"A trick?" Vivian turned around discreetly and curiously examined the stone wall in front of her. "The unusual scenes people have been seeing may be some kind of deceptive trick. However, there really is something under the castle."

Hao Ren remembered his task at once. The stone wall in front of them was also still a mystery. "The dumpy boss man probably wasn't lying. The stone wall appeared out of the blue but where did it come from?"

"It didn't fall from the top." Vivian pointed at the marks on the stone wall and continued to elaborate, "Look at the scratches. It probably slid down from the top corner not long ago. This is a well designed structure. It enables the stone wall to slide down and block the tunnel when needed."

Just when Hao Ren was about to say something, he heard footsteps coming from behind. He turned and saw Lily running towards them. Lily saw Hao Ren and reported immediately. "I've sent the lodge owner up there. And those ghost hunters have already departed as well."

"They've gone?" Vivian was surprised. However, she quickly realized something and said, "Of course, the 'paranormal phenomenon' has ended. They probably couldn't find anything suspicious after roaming around the castle. After all, they aren't professional demon hunters. They are just a group of amateurs."

"Did you just dump the tubby owner in the middle of the wilderness?" asked Hao Ren while he looked at the silly, werewolf girl. "There aren't any wild animals out there, are there?"

"Don't worry. He was about to wake up when I left him. I saw an old man taking down his tent so, I threw him into the back of the old man's car. He should be on his way back to town along with the tent," answered Lily. She had turned back into a werewolf. She was wagging her tail vigorously. "Don't worry, Landlord. Nobody saw me. I'm as speedy as the wind. But the bat's spell didn't really work. The boss man just slept for a few minutes."

"It's better than how you swing bricks. Also, I purposely suppressed my magic so that wouldn't sleep too long. If not, he could easily sleep forever. Do you know how difficult it is to control magic precisely?" defended Vivian.

Hao Ren looked at Lily's tail and was not sure if she was really as speedy as the wind. However, her tail did cause the dust to swirl in the air.

"Will Angus spread any nonsense after going back?" muttered Hao Ren worriedly. Vivian derided him while she examined the stone wall. She said, "Stop fussing. Whatever he says has nothing to do with us. The worst thing he could do is create another rumor of a haunting. Plus, he didn't see our faces… Erm, I found something."

Hao Ren stopped thinking about the lodge owner at once. He moved closer to Vivian and asked, "What is it?"

"Here." Vivian pointed at the upper half of the stone wall and said, "Do you see the letters and symbols?"

Hao Ren squinted for a while and said, "So, those are letters? I can hardly see their edges. Eh no, how come they don't look like English? They look a little like Egyptian…"

"They are neither Egyptian nor English. They are not from a human language." Vivian narrowed her eyes. Red lights were glittering her eyes. "These are Letta Runes used previously by demon hunters and the Church. It came from an ancient family of demon hunters in the early days. It later became a crucial means for the secret forces in the Church to fight against the unusual clan. An important feature of the Letta Runes was that common people were able use them. However, as humans got stronger day by day, the runes lost their importance as well. I haven't seen Letta Runes for more than 200 years."

Hao Ren swallowed nervously and asked, "This… what's it for?"

Hao Ren was aware of the castle's eeriness. He also knew that there were real ghosts underneath. Therefore, he was sure that the runes and stone wall did not suddenly appear for decoration purposes. They had to be something significant.

"It's used to repress demons, evil beings, ghosts and indestructible 'evil objects' with unholy power." Vivian pointed at a few lines of runes which had already been corroded by time. She then read, "This door obstructs the root of all evil. It stops evil forces from penetrating. The moment the door drops, all guards will move out."

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Chapter 55: There's No Way Out

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"The moment the door drops, all guards will move out," Vivian read as pointed at the last line of the runes. "This sentence is also written in runes. That's weird."

It was the first time Hao Ren was involved in such an ancient and puzzling scenario. He was stunned, feeling like he was in a Hollywood blockbuster. "Is it anything unusual? Perhaps the person who wrote this had obsessive-compulsive disorder. He felt uncomfortable forcing himself to insert a line in English under the runes. Besides, you wouldn't understand the English sentence even if it was written there," said Hao Ren.

Vivian rolled her eyes and said, "Do you think the utility bill notice stuck on people's doors would be written in ancient Latin? Who the heck would be able to read them? The Letta Runes are complicated and ever-changing. The runes can even have a certain impact on the learner's mind in the process of learning. Average people are unable to handle it. Only demon hunters and ascetic monks with rock-hard minds are able to endure the impact. It is said that the Letta Runes are texts written for the spirits of heaven and earth as well as deities of a different dimension. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it won't be used for humans let alone used to write a common message."

"Could it be the guards weren't common people?" Lily chipped in suddenly.

Vivian looked at the werewolf girl in surprise and praised her. "You're quite smart, big dog!"

What Lily said sent a chill down his spine and he quickly looked around nervously. He swallowed hard and asked, "They used demon hunters as guards? Is it possible that this place was actually the demon hunters' headquarters back then?"

"Demon hunters don't have headquarters. They spread out freely across the world. Information on internal contact between branches of demon hunters is still a myth. However, the Lord of Yorkford must have gathered a large number of demon hunters here," said Vivian as she floated lightly in the air, examining the runes and drawings on the stone wall more closely. "Look at these lines. They were carved in an extremely precise and complicated way which allowed three groups of runes to take effect at the same time. This was done through the writing order and arrangement of runes. It's a brilliant technique. The Lord of Yorkford was definitely not an ordinary nobleman. He was most probably a demon hunter who had already blended with the human species. I've seen things like this."

Although Lily was also an 'alien', she was as confused as Hao Ren. Her mind was full of question marks at this point. She stepped forward and scratched the hard, stone wall. " Hey old lady, can you stop showing off old stuff? Just tell us directly what the heck it's for," said Lily impatiently.

Vivian raised her voice instantaneously as she closed in to attack. It became chilly and the atmosphere was filled with a metallic smell of blood. "Who's an old lady?!"

Hao Ren hurriedly dragged aside the wolf girl, who never thought things through before speaking. Then, he said, "Just ignore her. You're the forever-17, beautiful girl from the Blood Clan, okay? Let's focus on our business."

"You keep protecting her." Vivian exclaimed scornfully and gently landed beside Hao Ren. "The sentence patterns found in the runes are solely for the purpose of repression. It's nothing aggressive, just a simple defense layer. And the third line of runes state that this is a crypt, which is repressing the 'root of all evil'. It has been sealed forever. The stone wall can't be opened without the power of the blood of Yorkford. Otherwise, one will be cursed by the demon in the crypt and—"

Before Vivian could finish speaking, a deep rumbling suddenly came out of nowhere and echoed through the crypt. Soon after, the ground started shaking violently; it got stronger and stronger. The walls around them created a horrible grinding noise. Dust and crushed stones kept falling from the top. The quake was only getting worse. Hao Ren lost his balance and immediately thought it was an earthquake! They were going to die in the ramshackle crypt.

The unknown, rumbling noise was becoming louder. It quickly reached an unbearable degree in a matter of a few seconds. It was like thunder. The moment Hao Ren closed his eyes and prepared to have his life flash by, it stopped abruptly.

The 'earthquake' had stopped and so did the weird sound. Only dust and gravel which occasionally fell from the top indicated that it was all not an illusion. Vivian floated up into the air the moment the quake started. She remained poised and unhurt. Lily protected herself in her own canine way immediately after the quake started. She laid down on the ground and protected her head with her hands. She was trembling fiercely from her head to her tail. When the quake stopped, Lily stood up sheepishly and giggled. "Was that an earthquake just now?"

Hao Ren was still in shock. With an odd expression on her face, Vivian said, "No… it wasn't an earthquake! It was the thing under the castle!"

"And Angus said this route was clear before!" Hao Ren was not a fool and reacted at once. "The stone wall just appeared!"

"Most probably the seal in the crypt became loose and triggered the stone wall to fall!" Vivian took Hao Ren's hand and ran towards the exit and said, "Run! This… huh?"

The passageway behind them was no longer there. It was blocked off by another massive stone wall, which looked even more solid than the stone wall with runes!

"When did this happen?" Hao Ren was astounded. He ran to the stone wall and knocked it to make sure it was not an illusion. He then said, "How were we not aware of this?"

"It's a demon hunter's trick. They're the best at setting this kind of freaking trap!" Vivian's eyes were covered in red light and her tone was full of anger. She swung her hands forward and two red shock waves in the shape of crosses hit the massive, dark stone wall hard. However, the red shock waves which could have crushed any metal and stone just left a scratch on the dark, stone wall. It was totally not powerful enough to destroy the entire stone wall. "Bastard! Even this wall's protected by a spell… We're trapped!"

This time, Lily took the initiative to step forward and tried to break the stone wall. However, after trying everything she could, the stone wall still stood there firmly. The werewolf girl immediately dropped to the ground and sobbed. "I don't want to die yet… I've never even been in love yet… I'm still a cub…"

Hao Ren was already drenched in cold sweat. However, looking at Lily's reaction, he could not care about himself. He could not bear to watch the wolf girl cry. Hao Ren helped her up and encouraged her. At the same time, he looked around and said, "Calm down, don't panic. Let's find another exit."

At this point, there came another strange noise. The eerie noise, which sounded like armor colliding came from behind both sides of the walls. There seemed to be some space around the tunnel. Vivian tried to break the walls on both sides of the tunnel. However, she quickly drew her hands back and asked, "Both of those walls aren't protected by spells. Do you dare to get out from there?"

The noise of the colliding armor was getting closer. Hao Ren could clearly hear the sound of hard objects scraping the rock wall closest to him. 'Something' had sensed the three intruders in the tunnel and was trying to get in there!

They were blocked at the back by the indestructible rock and both walls to their side signaled a gruesome checkmate, just from listening to the noise. Hao Ren finally turned his attention to the stone wall with runes and asked, "Can we open it?"

Vivian rushed to that stone wall. She knocked it, then stuck her ear on it and listened. "This one isn't very thick and seems to have nothing behind it. But are you sure you want to break open this wall? It may be the last layer of seal in the crypt."

Upon hearing what Vivian just said, Hao Ren hesitated. He really did not want to die. However, he had yet to lose his head during this critical moment. Also, most stories taught him that it was silly to destroy the seal in an ancient site used to repress the devil. How many movie sequels and dramas start shooting the moment an idiotic person destroys the seal…

"I suggest that you break that wall." The voice of the MDT suddenly appeared in his head as he hesitated. "According to radar scanning, there is another exit behind this wall. The entire crypt isn't completely closed. Don't worry about how breaking the seal will lead to a catastrophe. The castle has never been rebuilt for several hundreds of years. Other sealed doors are long gone. This is the only passageway successfully closed off. You are so unlucky, I'm deeply sorry—"

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Chapter 56: Now This Is the Real Deal

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren took the MDT out from his pocket, wanting to smash it on the ground. Its complicated interface aside, the gadget had been a pain in the ass. He had never seen anything as out of control as this.

"What's wrong?" Vivian was bewildered. "Taking your frustration out on it is useless."

"Open the stone wall," he said as he shoved the MDT back into his pocket. "The seal of the crypt is broken. Those things in there will escape to the outside world through some other opening. We must be jinxed to be trapped in here at this dead end!"

Vivian glimpsed at Hao Ren. She did not bother to figure out how the hell he knew all this. She turned to tackle the rune wall. However almost immediately, she said despairingly, "Just as expected, it won't open."

"Didn't you say that thing's thin?"

"Yes, no doubt the wall itself is very thin but, the Letta runes are sort of like an armor, reinforcing it like a city wall. Plus, the Letta runes are suppressing my powers. Lily, don't think of using your brute strength to open it. It simply won't work."

The werewolf maiden was trying to dig a hole under the rune wall using her bare hands. "I'm trying to dig a passage underneath it!"

Vivian rolled her eyes at her. "Good try. However, considering the kind of power the runes possess, you got to dig at least half a kilometer straight down before you can even think of circumventing it."

Lily stopped dead in her tracks. Her tail and ears drooped. With a dejected look in her eyes, she turned to Hao Ren. "Landlord, what are we going to do now?"

"Why am I having such bad luck?" He was left twisting in the wind. As a mortal, there was not much he could do. The fact that he could still remain calm was already something really incredible in itself. In desperation, he hit the rune wall with his fist.

Almost immediately, the sound of something dislodging came from above the wall.

Hao Ren stood closest to the wall and looked up. The Letta runes were glowing red as if the light was being squeezed out from them and they slowly came off the wall.

"Vivian, what did you do?" Hao Ren looked at the vampire maiden in shock but Vivian was as bewildered as him. "Nope... I think you did. The symbols just came off right after you hit the wall."

Hao Ren paused for a second before a thought struck him. "According to the runes, only the descendants of Yorkford could open the crypt. Could I be a lost heir of the aristocrat? If that's true, that means the castle and the 200 acres of land surrounding the castle are mine?"

Vivian's face changed from shocked to deadpanned. "Looks like someone's more optimistic than the big dog here... Let's cut the crap and get out of here! Go, big dog!"

Before Vivian could finish her last sentence, Lily had already rushed forward and struck the wall with her fist. A great, loud boom ensued and the wall was left with a large opening. The disappearance of the runes made the wall as good as any normal rock and it was definitely much easier to handle than the charmed black rock behind them.

Behind the stone wall... or rather the stone door, was a huge underground chamber, which appeared right before their eyes.

The chamber was far bigger than the intersection area of tunnels beneath the chapel. It was of a perfect square. At the northern side of the hall was a passageway, leading to somewhere. The trio covered their noses and raced across the dust-filled chamber towards the passageway. The moment they exited the passageway, it suddenly crumbled to the ground with a loud bang.

"Holy moly... we just cheated death." Hao Ren looked back and saw that the spot where they just stood seconds ago had vanished into a pile of rocks. He broke out in cold sweat and his heart pounded uncontrollably.

"That was probably the security mechanism of the crypt and the Letta runes were the key. If they were hacked, the passage would collapse on its own to block off the entrance." Vivian did perceive a surge of magic power right before the passage came down. The security of the crypt made her anxious. "A rune-sealed door, charmed rock and self-collapsing passageway; what kind of thing down here needs such tight protection?"

The sound of stones grinding suddenly erupted. Hao Ren's eyes quickly glanced around the chamber. What he saw made him tremble in fear. "I know what's buried down here… it's... it's the wraiths."

The trio did not pay much attention to the chamber itself as they entered in a hurry. Only then did they notice the chamber was not actually empty—the chamber floor was paved with countless stone slabs. Each slab was raised no more than one inch above the ground. They were arranged in such a way that they looked like floor tiles at first glance. As the slabs on the ground opened, hands in full armor emerged!

The chamber was a graveyard. Beneath the floor were tombs covered by the stone slabs.

As the stone slabs were removed, countless wraith knights in full metal body armor crawled out from beneath. They looked like dummy knights exhibited at the museum which just came to live. The jingling and rattling sounds of the heavy plated armor could clearly be heard. Astonishingly, even after hundreds of years, the metal body armors still looked shining and new as though they just rolled out from the armor factory. With his ability of enhanced vision, Hao Ren could clearly see the texture and tribal emblem on the metal plates.

The wraith knights had weapons in their hands. Some wielded long swords and war hammers while some carried short swords, and shields. The tombs were carefully arranged in a way that when the wraith knights rose up, they would immediately fall into formation.

The wraith knights outside the tunnels were supposedly of the same type—except they were buried and trapped under tons of rubble.

Hao Ren had never seen anything like it. His mind went blank but he managed to keep cool thanks to years of reinforcement from absentmindedness and carelessness. He tapped Lily's shoulder as he spotted an exit at the other end of the hall. "Head to the exit!"

The wraith knights were not fully awake. They did not notice the trio as they rose from their tombs. Taking advantage of this window period, Lily kicked a wraith knight out of her way before hustling towards the exit.

Unfortunately, Lily had kicked over a beehive. The hobbling knights suddenly became alert. Countless blood-red eyes came to life under the head armor, illuminating the crypt in a terrifying shade of red.

"Get out of my way!" Lily was getting nervous. She grabbed the wraith knight that was charging towards her and swung it like a war hammer. The 180cm tall wraith knight was totally helpless against her brute strength and random combat tactics. It was flung around like a war hammer and a large group of wraith knights were smashed. They flew everywhere in chaos.

"The big dog truly has something up her sleeve." Vivian looked on with satisfaction as a whirlwind of extreme cold fog formed around her. The cold mist was blood-red, expanding outwards in all directions. Nearby wraith knights were instantly frozen in a thick layer of frost. "Big dog, pull back! The crypt's their territory. Let's go to the surface!"

The murky underground of the palace was the home turf of the wraith knights. Such confined space had crippled Vivian's and Lily's ability to fight at their best. Vivian was a high-flying vampire whereas Lily was a terrifying werewolf with brute strength. Thus, an open space under the moon would make them feel more at home.

Lily brandished her improvised 'war hammer' to fight her way out like a ravaging tornado while Vivian emanated a freezing chill and shock wave the likes of a Bloody Mary, to ward off the heavily-armored wraith knights. Being a mortal was not going to be the right excuse at that time; Hao Ren had to to fight with all his might in order to stay alive—he was not sure whether it was just an illusion or real or simply adrenaline rush—his strength had become so unusually powerful that he could send a beefy wraith knight flying five meters away!

And so, they made it. They were finally outside the crypt.

However, there were more plated armor sounds ahead.

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Chapter 57: The Wraith Army

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The sound made by the plated armors resonated through the tunnels of the crypt. There was no way Hao Ren could figure out the enemy's position and number. The trio retreated as they fought. They had been trapped in the crypt tunnels for dozens of minutes and still could not find the exit to the surface. Hao Ren relied on the MDT to navigate though the complex tunnel system. Without the device, he would have been as good as blind.

Humans are strange creatures; so weak yet, so strong at the same time. People often display extraordinary strength in the face of challenges and Hao Ren was one of them. However, he felt that his strength was a little ludicrous. He was already gasping for air after some intense fighting. Nevertheless, he showed bravery and strength despite the onslaught of a legion of fearsome wraiths. While the wraiths were armed, they were clumsy and had seemingly forgotten how to use their weapons. They were clearly not fully awake. Making use of his agility, Hao Ren managed to knock down some wraiths that came his way. He only experienced minor pain in his leg and stomach.

He was in high spirits and felt strong but he paled in comparison to the two maidens. His power was just child's play. Lily swung her 'war hammer' with sheer strength to clear the way ahead. The wraith had a bad day as it was grabbed and swung like a hammer from one tomb to another. The armored wraith ended up like a pile of scrap and it had stopped making any sound for a long time. Life had seemingly left the wraith's body..

"How far to go?" Vivian was the most elegant of them and without much stress, the first-class vampire unleashed her specialty—blood magic—on the wraiths. She flew close to the ceiling and used her cold shock wave and Bloody-Mary blade to kill wraiths from meters away. (Farther away, the power would not have been easy to control as there was a risk of the tunnel caving in). Bodies of armor were strewn along the path. Some were slain into pieces while some were simply frozen and turned into ashes. The walls of the crypt were left with countless battle marks. But Vivian was worried just like Hao Ren. She could not reach her full potential in the confined space. "Does your radar work? I can only fly a meter high. This place cramps my style... Ouch, I hit my head again!"

So far, her injuries were only of her own making because she flew too high and hit the ceiling.

"We're only halfway through!" Hao Ren was exasperated. "We overshot the exit earlier. Now, we've got to go through another crypt. Lily, I'm talking to you! Watch where you're heading!"

All Hao Ren heard was only a muffled roar from Lily. After battling for so long, Lily had probably gone bonkers, he thought.

"Has she gone crazy?" Seeing Lily behave strangely, Hao Ren was worried. "Looks like werewolf's are prone to be crazy."

"Don't worry. She's okay. I just saw her taking out a piece of bread from her pocket. She ate it as she ran."

They came to the end of the passage yet, another crypt was awaiting them. Hao Ren was praying that it was not another graveyard. He could not withstand anymore onslaught from wraith knights. His prayer was answered when he saw that the crypt before them was empty. There were no wraith knights, no tomb covers on the floor, nothing.

A shield knight approached from behind. Hao Ren was too exhausted to confront it head on. He leapt forward and rolled his body into the empty crypt. He then shouted to Vivian, "Seal the passage!"

As the three of them escaped into the crypt, the vampire maiden immediately transformed into thousands of bats. The bats split and formed two swirls in the air. The tips of the cone-shaped swirls pointed towards the passage entrance and a blinding blue light formed in front of the swirls. Seconds later, the swirling bats charged at the passage entrance all at once. Half of the passage collapsed with a boom under the extreme impact.

The sound of falling stones and objects resonated in the crypt as the passage caved in. Even things were falling from the ceiling in the crypt. Hao Ren had to cover his head and he screamed, "Is this place collapsing?"

"Don't worry. I got it under control." Vivian's voice seemed to be omnipresent.

As the bats regrouped, they transformed back into Vivian. Then she descended from the air with a smirk. "At last, the space is large enough for me to exert my power. What do you think? After a little chat with Faraday, my Lightning Strike move can now produce a twin arc..."

Hao Ren was speechless.

Although the passage behind them had been cut off, they were not out of danger yet. There were a few sword knights that managed to skip through before the passage collapsed. These sword knights, which became more agile and clever after some warming up took cover at the corners when the passage crumbled. They staggered to their feet and raised their swords to attack the intruders.

"How many people are actually buried here?" Hao Ren was breathing heavily. "Did the last Yorkford owner bury his entire army down here? Like The Terracotta Army—the English version?"

"Do you know why after so long, their numbers are still so many?" Vivian had noticed something. She pointed at the sword knight which had been struck by Lily. "That won't kill them."

The sword knight hit the wall and broke into pieces—arms, limbs, breast plate, helmet and whatnot strewn all over the floor. However seconds later, the pieces came together and assembled themselves back into an armored knight.

"It seem like those things are hollow inside." During the battle, Hao Ren did not observe the armored wraiths carefully enough. Nonetheless, he could finally see through the gaps of the armor. "Did we just fight with a bunch of empty metal-plated armor?"

"It's spirit-possessed armor. Nice!" Vivian emanated a fierce storm, freezing the 'empty-shelled knights' until they crumbled into a pile of ashes. "Unless they are turned into ashes or beaten into pieces, they'll resurrect in no time."

By this time, Lily had snapped out of her violent werewolf state. The 'war hammer' she held was clearly dead. All that was left was a limb. She turned the limb upside down. "See, it's really hollow inside. I should have beaten them harder."

"Is this the demon hunter's magic?" Hao Ren drew close to Lily, poking the hollow limb. He asked, "Is there a spirit inside?"

"It's gone. Once the armor turns into ashes, the spirit will also be destroyed," Vivian said in a tone of voice which was full of disdain. "These things were fanatics. They were ready and willing to be sacrificed; to be placed into the armor. People called them 'Hero Souls'. Essentially, they were a bunch of avenging spirits. Their obsessive behavior has little difference from that of avenging spirits if you noticed. Don't be surprised, there will be more to come."

Hao Ren just smiled at her. He noticed that their surroundings were unusually quiet. "That's weird. Is the hostile party gone?"

The crypt was so silent you could hear a pin drop. There was no more sound of grinding plated armor.

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Chapter 58: Demon Stone

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"So... we're safe?"

Hao Ren took a long moment to calm his breathing as he stared at the silent, stone crypt in disbelief. The tunnel behind them had been completely sealed off after the Lightning Strike explosion. Their pursuers were blocked off by the collapsed tunnel. Even if the wraith knights were physically strong, they were made of metal; metal had a finite strength. So, the wraith knights could not have possibly dug through the sealed tunnel—at least for the time being.

It was time for a break to collect his thoughts.

"Maybe… not." Vivian closed her eyes and felt the energy flow from the crypts. "The aura of the wraiths are everywhere but I can't explain the spooky silence. The wraiths behind us are just a small group of the army..."

"Holy moly, a small group?" Hao Ren exclaimed in shock. "What was the castle owner thinking of?"

Lily had gone on the ground to check out the fragments of plated armor. Equipped with the natural instinct of a canine, she searched through the fragments as though something had attracted her interest. Then she found something—a twisted piece of chest armor. "Hey Battie, take a look! What's this? Are these Letta runes?"

Doggie and Battie. It looked like they would not be calling each other by their actual names for a long while.

Vivian kicked Lily's leg in protest before bending over to pick up the armor fragment. Sure enough, the silver metal plate had some squiggly patterns on it. Unfortunately, the plate was broken and the runes were not completely legible. "Let's see whether there are other fragments. We might be able to find something readable."

"I'll help." Hao Ren came up and joined Lily. They searched high and low for fragments. Most of the plated armor were frozen and they shattered under sub-zero temperatures. Literally none were in one piece. After some laborious searching, Hao Ren established that almost all wraith knights had runes on their armor.

The runes were inscribed on the same piece found on all of the armor. Their size and pattern were also identical. It appeared that the armor were the result of a mass production.

"Found it!" Lily was the first to find a whole piece of armor. She handed the one-square-foot metal plate to Vivian, who immediately deciphered it. "…The warden, watcher, sleepless warrior of the demonic chamber... under the order to defend the power of the demon, to drive out intruders... are not allowed to enter the demonic chamber... a covenant imbued and effected within the runes."

Hao Ren could not make sense of it. "What does it mean?"

"Looks like we've got one thing wrong," There was a subtle change in Vivian's expression. "We initially assumed that the wraiths were the objects of the sealing mechanism and the avenging wraith knights were being confined down here. But little do we know that the knights are actually part of the crypt's defense mechanism. They're the guards here. There's something else being held down here."

Hao Ren looked thoughtfully at the metal fragment in his hand. He had guessed it from the beginning; the buried army was a thoughtful arrangement. Full-corps, well-equipped; no matter how one looked at it, these knights were not the prisoners. Instead, it made more sense to say that they were the guards of the crypt.

"Demon?" The word struck Hao Ren as Vivian deciphered the runes. "This...this isn't funny! Don't tell me that the one being held down here is a demon. How on earth can demons exist at all in this world?"

"If the Blood Clan like me and errr... werewolf like Lily exist, why not a demon?" Vivian threw the armor fragment on the floor before corroding it with her caustic blood flog. Then she spoke in a grave manner, "Humans made tons of errors in their records of mythology. A lot of the violent, foreign creatures have been summarized and categorized as demons. I'm not sure whether the 'demon' described in the runes is a demon or something else. It better not be the real thing or else, it's going to spell big trouble."

Vivian paused for a few seconds before continuing, "Judging from the standard of the runes on the stone wall, the crypt was supposedly designed by the demon hunters. Demon hunters are experts who wouldn't make such a silly mistake in the categorization of unusual creatures. Most likely, the one being held down here is an actual demon."

Hao Ren's face twitched. "It'd be better if you didn't say that last sentence!"

Vivian did not take notice of Hao Ren's denial. She carefully surveyed the floor for armor fragments with runes in the hope that she would find out exactly what kind of demon was being held down there. On the other hand, Lily was anxious. "Did we just take out the knights tasked to guard the demon? Did we just commit a Himalayan blunder by letting the demon out!"

The world would be better place if all werewolves were as kindhearted as the werewolf maiden. Hao Ren patted her on her back and said, "Don't worry, the MDT said the crypt's seal had long passed its expiry date. The armored knights would not have been able to hold the demon back by themselves. We're just an accidental accomplice, at most."

"Not necessarily. The runes say it's a Demon Stone," Vivian explained as she picked up another armor fragment. "There's a place called the 'Demonic Chamber' as described in the runes on this cuisse. This secret chamber holds the Demon Stone, not the Demon itself. So, it isn't as bad as you think."

That sounded like a Double Dutch to Hao Ren. "What Demon Stone?"

"The Demon is an apt manipulator of power in the dimensions of space. Demon Stone is like a position tracker in their travel between spaces. It's also a remote medium which they use to corrupt the human world, much like their double. The Demon Stone is made of very special material, not the kind of stuff that demon hunters can destroy. So, the standard treatment would be to confine it—as long as a few hundred years. Basically, it's pretty secure."

"I see. So, the Demon Stone will exhaust its power after a few hundred years?" Hao Ren said assumingly.

"Not really. Usually, the demon will replace it with another Demon Stone when they lose contact. Pretty much like what you'd do when you lose your phone."

Hao Ren was quiet. The explanation sounded reasonable but he still found something amiss.

"That means the Demon Stone is still in the crypt and it's still working." Lily was naive but not dumb. She gulped and said, "Let's hope that the demon behind the stone has changed its 'number'. The disturbance in the crypt seems to have excited the Demon Stone..."

Vivian thought for a while before continuing, "Most likely the demon will come back to check the stone out just like what you'd do if you get a message from your lost phone. It would recognize the signal coming from the lost stone."

Hao Ren fingered his temples and said, "What's most important is, are you guys able to take on the demon?"

"We're not sure." Vivian looked a little awkward. "Theoretically speaking, we're neck and neck but there are also less powerful demons out there. However as you know, I'm a peaceful person who despises conflicts. During the war between the Greeks and the people of Troy, I joined the army only out of necessity because I was broke. Even then, I fought for both sides. Each side for five years respectively..."

Hao Ren was speechless once again. He did not care to pick at Vivian about her monumentally black history.

Lily gained some quick wit and something suddenly crossed her mind. "Oh yeah Battie, what do the runes mean by 'guards are not allowed to enter the demonic chamber'?"

"Although the wraith knights are kind of an effective weapon, their power comes from the demon. As such, they're only useful in guarding the Demon Stone from afar or around the crypt; not too close to the secret chamber."

"Have you noticed that this crypt is empty… Not a single wraith knight's here?"

A thick silence ensued and filled the crypt.

The trio had felt a stream of cold air blowing from all directions. Hao Ren carefully scanned the stone crypt and woefully asked, "Vivian, how does the Demon Stone look like?"

The vampire maiden started to recall. "Basically it's a long and thin crystallite, half a meter to a meter in length, irregular-shaped and black like smoked glass. The tips are slightly red in color..."

Hao Ren almost cried out in fear. "...What's that thing dangling on the ceiling?"

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Chapter 59: Neither a Success...

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Four gigantic chains hung forebodingly from the rock ceiling of the big chamber. Where the obsidian, black chains met, a claw-shaped metal structure that formed a twisted iron cage was mounted. Within it, a black crystal was held.

What they saw was just as Vivian had described; a meter odd in length with jagged edges protruding out from the main body. The crystal itself had the hue of blackened glass, almost obsidian-like with a tinge of blood red visible along the edges.

All three of them did not pay attention to the structure hanging on the ceiling when they first stepped into the room. Lily at first thought it was just a weird ornamental decoration, not being the sharpest tool in the shed. However both Hao Ren and Lily began to realize the gravity of the situation. It was the Demon Stone.

Hao Ren felt a faint vibration from the MDT and a deadpan voice echoed in his head. "I'm feelin' really sa—"

"Hush it, shut up."

"It can't be..." Lily fell down, seated on her butt. "I'm still a wolf cub... I haven't even met my mate yet..."

"Quiet!" Hao Ren hushed Lily as he smacked her head. "It's a rock. We are not sure if it will—"

Vivian immediately interrupted him with a deadpan tone, "What do you think triggered the defensive mechanisms in the crypt or had those metal tin cans waking up?"

Hao Ren gulped. It was pretty obvious. Something resonated with the demonic rock.

"Say... would this be considered a critical situation beyond the ability of a mere human?" Hao Ren sheepishly activated the MDT and looked for the combat support function. "Is it okay if I call for reinforcements now?"

"Nope... not even close. You haven't even seen the foe yet and you're already calling for reinforcements? Do you have any sense of shame?" The MDT spat back viciously.

Hao Ren really lost it and screamed. "What the actual f*ck?! Do I really need to get myself almost killed before I can call for reinforcements?"

"That's how we, at the Space Administration roll, buddy."

Hao Ren almost burst a vein and got himself an aneurysm. A sudden violent shake within the crypt pulled him back from the brink. He realized that he was in a deeper pool of crap and fainting was not an option.

Dust and debris from the ceiling rained over the entire chamber. While the quaking was still ongoing, a spine chilling crack thundered from amongst the rocks. The hanging chains rattled violently and the claws, which held the Demon Stone shook too. From the outset, it looked like the claws would withstand the quake but after a few stir ups, the claws started to loosen their grip bit by bit…

Hao Ren wanted to leg it instinctively the moment the floor shook, hoping to find something to hide behind. But, as he caught sight of what was happening to the suspended cage, he forgot about it. The trio could only lock their sights on the hanging Demon Stone, as if enchanted by the magical crystal. With every shake, their hearts skipped a beat. Even Vivian did not have the guts to grab the thing out of the air. They could only stare at the iron claw's loosening grip. Soon, one of the chains finally gave way.

The heavy metal chain swooshed through the air and headed towards the wall at the far end of the chamber. Nary a moment later, a deafening crash rumbled throughout the room.

As the grip of the metal claws finally gave way and the chains broke apart one-by-one, the black crystal fell, crashing on to the ground in a crimson gleam. It flashed as it came into contact with the surface.

Hao Ren had plenty to say at that point of time. What the f*ck was with the Gothic aesthetic of that design. Could the bloody fools not have made a proper, solid cage to hold the Demon Stone in place? And which f*cker was it who insisted on the claw design?!

"Run!!!" Lily screamed as she ran towards the nearest tunnel passage. The fur on her ears and tail rose in a hackle, the moment the Demon Stone crashed on the floor. As she lifted her feet, a crimson nova blasted out from the Demon Stone. Hao Ren saw a series of runic wards appearing on the walls of the chamber. Not long after, they faded in quick succession and a shattering blast no different than that of a broken window echoed throughout the chamber.

My god! The runic wards did not even last a second!

As the wards faded away, Hao Ren heard something very familiar... Klank! Klank!

Aside from that one tunnel that had collapsed, there were three other tunnel ways leading into the chamber and the clanking of armor was clearly audible from all sides. Lily managed to get a few meters in front and she quickly turned tail as she saw a sea of red glow floating in the dark. With it, an even more terrifying number of armored wraiths marched in rows into the chamber!

Since the wards failed, the wraiths could now enter the chamber.

The armored wraiths that appeared this time were different; grey mists swirled about their armor and a blood red glow shone from the eye slits of the helmets. The unholy energy from the Demon Stone had clearly taken hold of the crypt guards. As Vivian said, while the armored wraiths were protectors of sacred grounds, they were still spirits driven by unfulfilled desires. Their creation made use of techniques that were taken from a demonicon. They were useful when the crypt was sealed but, under the sway of the demonic rock, they turned into living nightmares.

"Bloody demon hunters!" Vivian let out a frustrated roar. Out of nowhere, another loud blast rocked the chamber from above.

Dust and debris rained across the chamber again as a giant slab of the ceiling collapsed right on top of Lily. She did not even have time to look up and leap as far as she instinctively could to avoid being turned into fine paste. While she escaped mostly unscathed, her tail was caught underneath the rocks. Hao Ren could only hear the pitiful whine of a dog having its tail stamped on.

"What's going on up there?!" Hao Ren felt that the subsequent quakes were unnatural, more akin to explosions. "Why am I hearing explosio—"

As he spoke, the center of the roof came crashing down. Moonlight shone through the gap as the dust settled. Someone had blown a hole right through the crypt.

The armored wraiths simply stopped moving as the roof collapsed, perhaps confused by the sudden ray of moonlight. Hao Ren and the rest could only look towards the gaping hole in the ceiling. What was the deal with that? And the roof was directly underground?

"Can we go up through there?" Lily asked as she leapt to Hao Ren's side; her tail wagging as she stared at the hole, her golden eyes filled to the brim with curiosity.

"Hold on, something's not right..." Vivian signaled them to stop moving as she blew the dust off her face. Hao Ren saw a rope being lowered into the chamber through the hole.

Hao Ren cursed in his heart as he saw the figure coming down the hole.

It was that bloody demon hunter, Nangong.

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Chapter 60: Defeat is Not Enough

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Someone somehow had blown a hole through the chamber's ceiling, which led straight to the surface. Hao Ren and the girls were still confused and dazed by the explosion that rocked the chamber earlier. They then caught sight of a rope being lowered into the chamber and someone very familiar appearing before them.

A tall, lanky, well dressed and well groomed man. Who else could it be but Nangong? He was still lugging that black luggage of his and a well-crafted crossbow dangled from his belt as he slid down the rope using his free hand.

Hao Ren immediately realized that the source of explosions earlier was this... self-professed demon hunter! He almost had a sudden urge to brick Nangong in the face if not for the timing of things.

Vivian and Lily reverted to their humanoid form as Nangong made his appearance. Despite being surrounded by armored wraiths, Hao Ren was confident that even in their human form they could hold their ground without much of a problem. The problem now was Nangong, as none of them could discern his intentions. It was very evident that he stayed behind after the crowd left.

By then, Nangong had reached the ground. He leapt lithely around the rubble for a flat spot and finally had the time to look around. The first thing that caught his eye was the three familiar faces with their gawking mouths staring at him. He recoiled in surprise at the scene. "Eh? You three? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Lily retorted at the same time.

"My job." Nangong looked puzzled. "I was trapped in the tunnels above and wanted to blast my way back to the surface. Never thought that I'd blow the floor apart as well. I saw that there were flat surfaces through the hole and came down to have a look..."

Bugger. How much explosives did he actually use for this? Was this demon hunter wannabe in a hurry to kill himself in the most explosive way possible?

"Wait, now's not the time!" Hao Ren exclaimed as the armored wraiths regained their senses and began to converge towards the chamber in droves. It seemed like the runic inscriptions on the armor was still holding out against the demonic influence. Their movement was sluggish and indecisive but, the red glow in their eyes became even brighter. It appeared like the demonic influence was overwhelming the wraiths, almost to the point of losing control.

Nangong finally realized the gravity of the situation he was in as he saw a flood of armored wraiths with their glowing red 'eyes' heading towards him. "Wraith knights?! And what's with their size?!"

Hao Ren was still thinking about how he was going explain three normal people wandering around in a crypt to Nangong. However, Nangong had already gone on the offensive. He deftly pulled the crossbow from his belt and threw his luggage down to open it. Nangong quickly grabbed a vial from the box and threw it as hard as he could at the armored wraith that was closest to him. At the same time, he aimed the crossbow towards another direction and pulled the trigger. A silver bolt whistled onwards with murderous intent.

As the vial broke against the armor, it released a cloud of silvery dust, seemingly infused with magic. It did not dissipate as it was released into the air. Rather, it quickly covered the armor and dug its way through the gaps in the armor. The silver bolt fired from Nangong's crossbow landed on the faceguard of the wraith. The bolt shattered upon impact and released a silver light lancing straight into the helmet.

"Quickly, hide behind the rocks!" Nangong yelled as he reloaded his crossbow, aiming at his next target. "I'll hold them back! These things are slow. Find a chance to run and don't worry about me!"

Hao Ren had wanted to brick Nangong so hard when the demon hunter appeared but he was having second thoughts. While he was far from competent as a demon hunter, he seemed to be a decent guy at the very least. He acted nothing like the callous bastards Vivian described them to be.

Nangong fired his crossbow repeatedly at the wraiths as he slowly stepped backwards, approaching one of the boulders lying on the ground. Thanks to him blowing a hole through the roof of the chamber, the fallen boulders became a somewhat effective makeshift defense work. Hao Ren and the rest hid behind the rocks as ordered by Nangong.

With the chamber no longer a death trap, the sluggish wraiths would have not stood a chance against a flying vampire or a wall-climbing werewolf. That said, the girls had no intention of revealing their true forms in front of Nangong. They were still wary that Nangong could be the real deal as his gadgets seemed to be authentic at the very least.

Hao Ren decided to wait and observe. If things changed for the worst, he would let Vivian and Lily loose. Exposing their identities sounded like a way better an option than being killed after all. If Nangong could take care of the matter, it would be a bigger plus.

Nangong was panting after several sequences of shooting and reloading his crossbow. He quickly pulled out a piece of paper with words scribbled on it in red ink. Hao Ren took a glance and realized that the scribbles were Letta runes.

Although Letta runes could be used by common people, it was still a demanding task. One would need enormous spiritual strength to ward off the effects of using the runes. Who is this Nangong actually?

"Keep your heads down! They will attack anything that moves." Nangong took a glance at Hao Ren's position and said, "Leave them to me. Fret not, I'm a bona fide exorcist. Evil, begone!"

As Nangong yelled the incantation, the charm lit up on its own. Nangong however seemed to be holding the charm the other way around. He was holding on to the part that lit up.

"Ouch! Hot, hot, hot!" Nangong jumped as his fingers were scorched by the flames. The charm fell limply on the ground and the flames died. He quickly picked it up and blew the dust off. He then shouted, "Evil, begone! Evil, begone! Evil... oh the fire charm has already burnt out..."

Hao Ren had wanted to see the demon hunter go all out against the wraiths but to his disappointment, he only saw Nangong rummaging through his pockets for a lighter. He lit the charm up again and threw the charm towards the wraiths. "This will work!"

A blinding, red light followed the explosion and then... nothing.

Vivian simply could not take it anymore and went, "Uh... Mr. Demon Hunter, are you forgetting something else?"

Nangong looked up and saw the armored wraiths that fell earlier had come back into being. It seemed that the silver powder and bolts only stunned the tin cans for a moment.

Hao Ren wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead. The demon hunter came in guns (crossbow) blazing, displaying his magical and martial prowess but in the end, it was his explosive entrance that seemed to have some significance.

"How could this be?" Nangong said as he leapt backwards. "This shouldn't have happened. This stuff should have been effective... No worries, I still have my trump card!"

Nangong quickly pulled out an assortment of gadgets and with trained hands, quickly assembled them into an arbalest. The tip of the arbalest gleamed a beautiful silver under the moonlight. Hao Ren finally stopped twitching his eyes as Nangong seemed to have gotten his sh*t together.

"Hmph! This is not child's play!" Nangong said as he took aim. "Feel the wrath of a demon hunter's silver explo... f*ck me, I forgot my bolts!"

Vivian could only facepalm at that sight. "Doggie, get ready. That man is a hopeless."

"Wait!" Hao Ren restrained the two as they were about to morph. He glanced at Nangong, who was fiddling with his gadgets. He felt that the man was nothing but trouble. Even as a half-boiled demon hunter, he was still trouble.

Hao Ren wanted to get rid of the trouble. At the very least, to ease his worries of a real demon hunter coming up behind them.

He quickly looked around for something solid but, the rocks on the ground were either too fine or too big. As his hand swept pass his pocket, he felt something solid and smiled menacingly.

Hao Ren quietly made his way towards Nangong with the solid object in hand. He swung it as hard as he could to the back of Nangong's head.

At the same time, a screech echoed in his head. "You definitely haven't read the user manual! There is definitely something wrong with your way of doing things!"

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Chapter 61: Escape!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

As well-equipped as he was, Nangong was only human. It was obvious from the fighting that he was no miracle worker. He reacted like any normal human would. This gave Hao Ren much relief and emboldened him enough to brick Nangong on the back of his head…

…With his MDT.

"This thingamajig finally has some use!" Hao Ren yelped as he looked at Nangong lying stiffly on the ground. He turned the hexagonal device around as he took a good look at it, recalling the various unhappy experiences with the device. At last, he found a use for the device and it could not stop him. The MDT thought otherwise and it threw a tantrum inside his head for a good five minutes. Hao Ren felt he should have asked about a mute function before smacking Nangong on the head.

"Well, trouble's taken care of. Go wild!" Hao Ren commanded the two with swagger. Vivian and Lily immediately morphed into their true forms and charged towards the armored wraiths with murderous intent. It did not take long for them to clear off the front ranks of incoming wraiths. Just as things were going according to plan, Hao Ren saw something that ticked him off. Another rope was lowered into the room!

The gaunt-looking Indian monk had also stayed behind. He was coming down the same way Nangong did.

Hao Ren glimpsed the two supernatural beings rampaging across the ranks of the wraiths and he looked at Nangong. He was determined to do something useful as the only man in the group. While the monk was still adjusting his sight to the light levels in the chamber, Hao Ren snuck up behind him and pulled the MDT out from his pocket. Just as he did so, the MDT screamed in his head. "Cease at once! Usage err—"

A loud crack echoed as the MDT hit against the back of the monk's head.

It appeared that the monk was equally human as Nangong and fell as he got bricked. The unlucky sod did not even manage to touch the ground before Hao Ren took him out.

He quickly dragged the unconscious monk aside. He threw an apologetic glance at the old man in funny robes. "I'm so sorry! The situation demanded it. It would be even more dangerous if you were awake..."

"Oh, that's rich." Vivian sneered as she spread her bat wings.

"He's still an elder. Shouldn't I be apologizing after bricking him in the head?"

Vivian shrugged and bitterly responded, "... Never saw you pay much reverence to me though..."

Hao Ren could not muster a response.

With no further outside interference, Vivian and Lily could use the wide, illuminated area to their advantage. One mangled everything in sight with brutal strength while another whipped up a destructive, cyclonic spell. It was not log before hundreds of the walking tin cans were scattered all over the place. As effective as their attacks against the wraiths were, the opponents were immortal spirits. They would come back to life at a frightening pace if not reduced to dust. It did not take long for the scattered armor parts to reform. The sight and clanking sounds would send chills down anyone's spine. Hao Ren thankfully, was used to it and surmised that a drawn out battle against seemingly immortal enemies was a battle they would lose.

Even Vivian's cyclones waned after some time. The cold air from her spell had already lowered the temperature in the room significantly. Hao Ren was indeed worried that he would freeze to death way before the armored were encased in ice. Either that or Nangong or the old monk would turn into ice-cubes first.

They needed to bring the field of battle somewhere with even more space. If not, they could just leg it.

"We need to figure this out fast..." Hao Ren took a look at the hole on the ceiling. "You know what... let's get up there and rethink our plans. We don't know how many of those tin cans are there. Fighting them all is just a waste of strength."

"Okay!" Lily ran towards Hao Ren the moment she heard him, dragging one of the armored wraiths along with her. She had enough of the dark and dreary atmosphere. After swatting scores of wraiths with the one in her hand, she got herself ready to breakout of the place. At the same time, Hao Ren dragged the unconscious Nangong and monk together. "We still need to get them out as well."

"Two of them, plus you... This won't be easy..." Vivian frowned. She saw the ropes that they used to descend into the chamber and deftly slashed a long strand off. She passed the ropes to Hao Ren. "Tie the two together. I'll drag them up. You and Doggie hold on for a bit... Eh Doggie, can you come up by yourself?

Lily looked up and nodded confidently. "Just need a good leap!"

Hao Ren stared in awe at the athleticism Lily professed to have. After that, he quickly went about tying Nangong and the old monk together. Vivian lifted them out of the chamber not long after.

Vivian flew back into the room seconds later. "Well, that's that. I left them on the campsite. You really didn't hold back did you. They won't be waking up any time soon."

"Then, let's make our exit as well..." Hao Ren nodded. He was suddenly reminded of the Demon Stone, which laid not too far from them. "How do we deal with… this?"

The cause of all the trouble was still lying in the middle of the chamber, buried in rubble. Surprisingly enough, there was nary a scratch on its surface. Hao Ren was pretty sure that the stone had already 'awakened' as a red glow had been emanating from it ever since it fell from the cage. And because of it, the wards protecting the chamber failed and the wraiths went berserk.

That said, after the initial disturbance, the Demon Stone laid there in silence. No demons popped out from the void and it was forgotten as the combat went on.

However at that moment, they could not just leave it as it is. The stone glowed red again, signaling that it would not deign to stay there indefinitely. Plus, seeing how it affected the spirits within the chamber, leaving it behind was not an option.

Hao Ren thought to at least move it somewhere away from the spirits, given that the wards had already failed. Leaving it in the demonic chamber would have made no sense.

Vivian had no idea what to make of the Demonic Stone but, she also knew that leaving it behind was a bad idea. She then turned towards Lily. "Doggie, grab that rock and bring it up. I'll carry Mr. Landlord back to the surface."

Lily recoiled. "Why me...? Oh, you bloody twat!"

Before Lily could finish her sentence, Vivian had already grabbed Hao Ren by the nape and flew out of the chamber.

"God, fresh air does feel good..." Hao Ren took a deep breath as he reached the surface and fell on his behind. He had done his part of the job but, he was merely human and his physical enhancement was the most basic of sorts. He still felt pain and soreness after all of that. He did not have enough strength left to even stand up... "Let me catch a break... God, that was a hell of a mess..."

"Where's Doggie?" Vivian asked after a moment as Lily was no where to be seen. "Did she run into trouble?"

Just as she finished her sentence, Vivian and Hao Ren heard Lily grunting as she jumped out of the hole vertically like a silver cannonball. With her, was the Demon Stone. She managed to leap a good few meters into the air and gleefully said, "Didn't I tell you just a good leap will do!"

Hao Ren and Vivian looked on as she fell back into the hole in the same trajectory...

Lily was jumping in and out of the hole... "Can someone—"

"Give me a boost from behind—"

"Or else I can't land on the ground!"

It took her three tries to finish her sentence.

Vivian flew towards her and gave her a good kick. "You bloody idiot! Can't you leap in a parabolic angle?

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Chapter 62: The Demon Befallen

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

To be fair, Vivian really relished the chance to 'help' Lily. She was given the rare opportunity to blatantly kick her. The silly werewolf asked for it anyway and of course, the vampire maiden would not do it perfunctorily. She knew her strength could not compare with that of the werewolf. Therefore, she purposely backed up for more than 30 meters before she ran towards Lily to give her a kick. The kick sounded like the ripping of silk. It was so powerful that it horrified Hao Ren, who was watching it.

When Lily finally stood up, they started quarreling again as usual.

"The hole's as deep as a pothole. How am I supposed to jump over it?!" Lily was obviously focusing on the wrong thing.

"Can't you just run up to the hole a bit and take-off from the side once you reach the spot? Even if you can't act quickly, you can still slightly adjust the angle when you're ready to jump, right! Such a dumbass. It's so embarrassing to be staying with you under the same roof!" Vivian was not focusing on the right thing either.

"Can the both of you please quiet down?!" In the end, Hao Ren had to exert his authority as the landlord (it was not really powerful but it helped both superwomen calm down). His shout finally brought the two ladies back to the issue at hand. "The problem here isn't solved yet. What are we going to do about those armored wraiths underneath? What about the seal and runes which failed in the crypt? And most importantly, what should we do with this stone?"

Hao Ren pointed at the Demon Stone that Lily tossed aside. The one-meter-long, black crystal was still the same as when it first awakened. It glittered steadily with a red glow under the dim light of night. Relying on his nerves of steel as well as strong support, Hao Ren cautiously stepped forward and knocked the stone a few times. He found that it was different from other stones which were usually cold. In fact, the stone was warm and vibrated slightly. He could even hear a voice, which sounded like hoarse whispers coming from the crystal when he put his ear close to it. The Demon Stone was like a restless tuning fork. It felt like there was a constant output of some kind of message. However, nobody knew how to stop it.

At the beginning, Hao Ren just thought of getting out of there as soon as possible. This thought was consistent with his usual philosophy of 'safety first'. However when he revealed this, Vivian told him that it would not work. She told Hao Ren that demons were creatures who were extremely good at spreading their power through the medium. The moment the Demon Stone started pulsing, anyone exposed to its red light was already 'marked' by the stone. The owner of the Demon Stone was capable of tracking down whoever that was close to the stone. Escaping was totally useless. It would have probably motivated the demon's interest to hunt them instead.

"When you're targeted by a demon, you only have two choices," Vivian reminded Hao Ren solemnly (as well as Lily, who was still in a state of confusion) "You either hope that the demon isn't interested in you or fight it. There is no other way. The demon will spread its power everywhere and very few people can slip away under his nose."

No matter how demons were portrayed in fiction and drama, the real demon Vivian knew was like this anyway.

Hence, Hao Ren could only force himself to stay there and rely on Vivian, the old… professional who used to deal with demons. They had to find a way to interrupt the connection between the stone and demon.

"If it's a low-level demon, my blood can cover the aura of the stone. Once the aura emitting from the stone is intercepted, the armored wraiths in the crypt should be able to calm down. At least, they'll become easier to deal with," said Vivian. She walked around the Demon Stone a couple of times, looked at it hesitantly and said, "But if it's a demon of higher order, instead of blocking the signal, this will tell the stone's owner that there's something interesting here. Those crazy creatures love to fight but, only few can beat them. A senior in the Blood Clan is exactly their target of provocation. Both of us are equally strong and we can fight for a long time."

Lily limped around in circles and said, "So, you're actually complimenting yourself indirectly."

"Now's not the right time to joke." Vivian stared at Lily and said, "What does a little girl like you know? Nothing good comes from getting entangled with demons. They have a one-track mind and will go after their target to the death. I hate fighting, I don't know why. Anyway, I hate fighting and killing. Nobody wants to have any connection with those lunatics."

Hao Ren glanced at Lily and asked, "Why are you walking like that?"

Lily showed Hao Ren her pitiful tail. A third of the fur had fallen off and the shape of the tail was a little crooked. "I was hit by the rocks just now. It's gonna hurt for a few days," she said.

Hao Ren looked up and thought that it was just a few scratches on the skin and lost fur after being hit by tons of falling granite. You really could not ask for more.

"Whatever. I'll just do it." Vivian seemed like she finally made up her mind. She gazed at the sky and said, "The moon is vanishing. I need the moon's help to take care of the stone. If we keep delaying, I'm afraid

even the dullest demon will wake up soon enough. Hey Big Dog, stand by. I feel a lot of wraiths approaching the ground. They're probably coming for the Demon Stone. Help us block them."

Lily smiled with confidence and said, "Okay! Just block them, right?"

Vivian nodded without speaking. Silently, she stood a few meters away from the Demon Stone with her hands slightly opened. A thin layer of red mist started to disperse from her body.

At the same time, Lily heard a familiar noise approaching them.

The armored wraiths were still underground. However, they were about to reach the land above.

The crypt used to have a very tight sealing system. The demon's chamber, knights' tomb and other similar key places were all hidden well. The lodge owner never discovered the shocking secret buried deep down below. He just walked through the tunnels on the upper layer and did not damage or touch anything in the crypt. However, hundreds of years had passed. The long time itself was strong enough to destroy the seals in the crypt. It just happened to reach the tipping point after all the things that transpired those few days.

A large number of Letta runes had lost efficacy and the demon chamber's holding powers had weakened. Not to mention, the crowd of paranormal enthusiasts who had gathered around the castle. Their wanton and grand exploration was the last straw that crushed the weakening crypt. It also caused the partial activation of the Demon Stone. It activated the defense mechanism of the crypt, woke the sleeping guards up and triggered their current situation.

The later scene where the Demon Stone dropped onto the ground and glowed red was a full-blown awakening after the partial activation. In fact, the stone had begun to get a little antsy even before they entered the crypt. How else would Angus have been blocked by the rune wall, which suddenly appeared?

The crypt was supposed to have traps to deal with a situation like this. When the demon chamber was activated and the armored wraiths could no longer handle the situation, all entries as well as exits of the entire crypt should have been blocked by huge, spell bound walls. They were supposed to suppress the demon. At the same time, the stone walls would have also prevented the wraiths from escaping and harming people. Unfortunately, the setting had already crumbled in time. All paths to the entire crypt were opened before them. Additionally, the armored wraiths were all marching towards them..

Clattering sounds could be heard.

The familiar clatter of armor was suddenly getting clearer and clearer. Under the moonlight, the first armor popped up by a collapsed pillar not far away!

Lily was ever ready. The girl with brute force lifted a huge piece of granite, about half a meter wide and more than one meter long in both hands. Her face was full of excitement. When she saw the first wraith pop up, she threw the rock at it without hesitation. "Although I don't know why the bricks here are so big… my Pegasus Meteor attack is compatible with all cuboid ammo!" said Lily.

The granite, which weighed almost a ton created a piercing sound in the air, rumbled down and hit the first armored wraith. The hit turned it flat. No matter how strong the armored wraith was, it was impossible to stand up after that.

She did not really have to worry about the situation around the crypt and she had an inexhaustible supply of 'bombs' on hand. Lily, the superwoman of bricks felt like she was invincible. She deeply believed that she could smash every armored wraiths that showed up in front of her using the huge bricks littered everywhere in the castle. She got a little excited thinking about it quickly howled loudly at the moon before it vanished completely. This was her signature move. When she felt like she was invincible, she just had to howl.

While Hao Ren was startled by Lily's sudden howling, something even more frightening was happening.

Not far behind, the rite carried out by Vivian had gone haywire. The Demon Stone was suddenly erupting an unprecedented red glow. A head-splitting voice rumbled from above.

"%#@%#@?"

It was some kind of demonic language. They could not understand it.

At that time, Hao Ren knew that Vivian's forever inextricable bad luck had contributed to her failed attempt…

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Chapter 63: #@%

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When the oppressive and horrible sound started coming from above, the air around Hao Ren suddenly felt like it was burning.

The blood mist that Vivian released had already covered the Demon Stone completely. However, a shock wave erupted from the stone out of nowhere and shattered the mist in seconds. Even Vivian was forced a few steps back by the shock wave. Watching the power of her blood slowly disappear, she could not believe it and said, "This… is a waste. I could have eaten that!"

Hao Ren instantly detached himself from the present situation. The vampire tried to smooth things over and she gave her best but atmosphere was really ruined.

At that time, Lily was holding a giant stone pillar which was several meters long. She kept smashing the armored wraiths. The impact was so strong that the whole castle seemed to be experiencing an earthquake. However, the horrible sound in the sky made her stop immediately. The werewolf girl looked up in shock and saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds.

The stars and moon had vanished. A large mass of filthy, dark clouds were gathering from all directions. The clouds were thick like some kind of substance. They tumbled through the sky like a swamp hanging upside down. It looked horrible and disgusting. As the clouds gathered, a dark red blaze began to spread behind them. It was as though there were miles of flames spanning from the black clouds. In the brightest part of the fire, an opening in the shape of a vortex was slowly forming. Immense pressure and an unbearable heat wave were coming right from the opening.

The blaze was not an illusion. It was actually loaded with a sea of fire; an endless roaring flame coming from the demon dimension.

"It's hot, it's so hot!" yelled Lily as she continued to wipe out their enemies desperately. She swung the huge, stone pillar and smashed the big crowd of armored wraiths into irretrievable scrap. However, the giant stone pillar was already weathered so, it was unable to withstand Lily's rough handling. It finally broke after a few waves of wraith attacks. Lily was stunned for a moment but surrounded by the crazy armored wraiths, it was no time for her to stop. She could only throw away the pillar and pick up other 'bricks' of the same length around her. She threw them everywhere and shouted, "F*ck off! Are you guys done here?! Landlord, I don't want to play anymore. I want to go home…"

While the clouds in the sky continued to gather together, the armored wraiths in the castle seemed to go crazy in response. The Letta runes on their bodies were red and shining as if they were just seared onto the armor. Lily was wiping out the wraiths alone. Although she could still handle it, she was obviously frightened by the upheaval. Hao Ren knew that Lily was almost in tears from her voice. The werewolf was just a 'little cub'; she was still too young.

However, Hao Ren was not that old as well. He was not even married yet.

Vivian spread her wings and flew to Hao Ren. The cold air surrounding the vampire managed to slightly disperse the unbearable heat. Hao Ren regained his senses in the cold air and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I… don't know." Vivian still could not believe what just happened. She could not understand exactly what was wrong with and tried to explain. "It was smooth in the beginning. I also sensed that the strength of the Demon Stone's owner should be the same as mine. As long as it's sealed carefully, the problem can be solved perfectly with the help of moonlight… but I don't know what happened. I just lost control! This rock works in a whole different way than the Demon Stone I know, it…"

"Okay, okay. I don't get it anyway," said Hao Ren. He then held onto Vivian's shoulder. He could hear noises echoing in his head and they made it hard for him to concentrate. "Why is my head full of noises?"

"Demonic power will affect the minds of ordinary people!" Vivian said loudly. She knew that her blood magic to banish mental pollution was not going to work on Hao Ren. Since being anxious would not have helped either, she got ready to fight instead. The vampire maiden flew up into the air and a pair of giant bat wings opened up on her back. Countless blood red streams of light emerged from the air and condensed into a complex pattern behind her. Hao Ren felt a strong pressure spreading from Vivian's body. It was nothing like he had ever seen before and was far more powerful than her usual performance. Vivian stared at the spiral door in the sky. There was already a huge foot which looked like the hoof of a beast, stepping out from the vortex. She had to completely unleash her power before the entire demon got out of the vortex.

It had been thousands of years since Vivian last used such power. She was unsure if she could fully control it.

A clear flash of light suddenly pierced the thick, dark clouds in the sky and they seemed to be torn apart by force. An unusually bright, silver moon emerged from the rift. Hao Ren's attention was immediately drawn to the extraordinary sight. He thought it was the previously obscured moon. However, he soon realized that it was not the right time. The moon should not have been in that position. Then, he noticed that the silver moon in the sky was much larger than usual. Additionally, the texture of the moon was clearly visible but h he had never seen anything like it before.

Before he could observe it further, the surface of the moon was covered with a layer of blood-like redness. The entire moon almost turned into a completely red sphere. At that moment, the red, ominous light in the sky even covered the sea of flames behind the clouds. The demon's power was suppressed in an instant. Of course, it could have been an illusion. After all, Hao Ren did not know anything about power sensing and psionic scanning. He just thought that the strange moon Vivian summoned was brighter than the flames amid the clouds…

The surrounding armored wraiths lost their purpose under the glow of the blood moon and began to wander in a daze. Lily looked up and stared blankly at the eerie moonlight. The fur on her ears and tail were slowly standing up one by one. "… I feel… a little sick…" she said.

A loud bang broke the short stalemate. The flames in the sky surged uncontrollably and the vortex was completely opened. Then, a giant demon crashed down to the ground. For a moment, the earth trembled and the mountains shook; throwing sand and stones in all directions.

Hao Ren and Lily stepped back instinctively.

A figure burning in raging flames slowly rose within the dusty haze. After the dust had dispersed, the demon's figure was revealed. It was a five-meter-tall humanoid creature with crooked legs akin to a goat's hoofs and stout, strong arms. Its skin was dark as iron and each bulging muscle was filled with traces of flames as well as lava. The raging flames formed the demon's armor and molten iron dripped slowly from the cracks on its skin. The demon's entire body was like an erupting volcano and its body was of an extremely high temperature. The flames and the lava were as real as they could be.

Hao Ren had to straighten his neck in order to see the demon's face clearly. What he saw was a grim face as if carved from obsidian. The demon had facial features but there were flames pouring out of every hole on its face. It seemed as though the face existed only to make the demon look more ferocious. The demon's head had a pair of curved, long horns. They looked like the horns of a black goat just as the legends had described.

Hao Ren noticed that one of the demon's horns was chipped. About one-third of the horn had broken off at the tip.

Vivian was stunned when she saw the demon. She hesitated to attack it because she found that… this demon was quite different from the breed she knew of.

While the demon had the similar powerful presence and appearance, it was not the kind of breed she had seen before. She did not know if it was a good idea to rashly attack an opponent when its clan, strength and fighting style were all unclear.

The demon however, did not seem to care about Vivian, who was glaring at it fiercely from the side. It just peered below and searched around until it found a petrified Hao Ren. A roar, which sounded like muffled thunder came from the demon's mouth. "#@#!%@%@?" asked the demon.

"What?" Hao Ren could not understand it.

"#@#%#, #@#%#?"

Hao Ren was surprised when he realized that the demon was talking to him. But, who the heck would understand demon language!

The demon appeared to suddenly realize the problem (Hao Ren guessed it from its expression. It was quite difficult to see the demon's expression in the middle of the flames). The demon then did a scratching motion in the air and took a metal plate out of nowhere. It was a metal plate the size of a desktop. However, it was just like a tablet in the demon's hand. The demon scratched the metal plate for quite some time and laid face down on the ground, trying to keep his eyes parallel to Hao Ren's.

"Err, you me lendlot?"

Vivian had been holding herself up for quite some time. At that moment, she lost strength and finally dropped to the ground.

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Chapter 64: So… This Is It?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The moment Vivian dropped to the ground, the blood moon in the sky disappeared. Without the scarlet light suppressing them, the wraiths started moving again. And so, the clatter of armors could be heard once more. Lily quickly lifted more giant bricks up, ready to fight. However, the first to act was the scary demon. When the horrible, five-meter-tall creature raised its hand and scratched the air, the sea of fire as well as the thick clouds vanished in the blink of an eye. At the same time, Vivian also sensed that the demon's power around them was weakening rapidly. Eventually, even the energy response from the Demon Stone slowly faded.

The armored wraiths in the crypt were originally awakened by the Demon Stone, which led them to the attack. Now that the root cause was interrupted, their will to attack dissipated. The Letta runes on the armored wraiths were extremely burnt due to the demon's immense power. As such, they were mostly damaged. Since the demon's power had faded, the armored wraiths too completely lost motivation. The armor of each wraith trembled at the same time and then fell flat on the ground; motionless.

The difficult problem of armored wraiths was solved.

The huge demon nodded and seemed satisfied with its performance. Shortly after, it laid on the ground again and tried to keep its eyes parallel to Hao Ren's (but it was almost impossible due to the huge disparity in height). It looked at the metal plate on its hand, which seemed to be engraved with phonetic symbols and asked, "Err… ya… er ya my lend…lend lot?"

After it finished the sentence, the demon started to look at Hao Ren expectantly. Hao Ren was still confused. He almost lost his ability to think having to face the bizarre situation in front of him. He did not respond until he felt something burning on his head. Sparks had spurted from the demon's mouth when it was talking. It lit Hao Ren's hair up!

"Hey, it's hot…" Hao Ren kept slapping his head. Fortunately, he put out the fire before his hair really got burnt. He jumped a few steps to the side before the demon spoke again. "Wait a minute. I can't understand your language."

Then, he took the MDT out of his pocket with his trembling hand and asked, "Discus, what the heck is going on here?"

"You're not respecting this device enough. Especially when you give me a very insulting nickname." The MDT preferred to answer Hao Ren telepathically. It did not even type out any subtitles. "But I'd love to tell you, everything is going according to plan."

Hao Ren looked up at the terrible creature that was burning in flames and lava. He gulped and asked, "Do you have a demon language translation program?"

"You finally remember the correct way to use this device? Do you remember the time you hit someone with this device?" mumbled the Mobile Data Terminal.

Hao Ren weighed the MDT and said, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tie you to a stick and turn you into a hammer."

The MDT kept silent.

Hao Ren received help to translate the demon's language. He was finally able to communicate smoothly with the huge creature in front of him (although it seemed like the demon had been learning Chinese for quite some time). "Then… are you the new tenant I'm looking for?" asked Hao Ren.

The demon looked surprised. A stream of lava erupted from its biceps. "How do you know demon lang… oh, right, you're an agent. That's no surprise. So you're my landlord? Why are you so late?"

Hao Ren was completely lost. Not only did he not expect Raven's arrangement of the new tenant to be such a shocking one, he never thought that they would be talking in such a situation! Of course, he was now more curious about why the demon was summoned by the Demon Stone. It was sealed hundreds of years ago. Did Raven 12345 not say that the new tenant just arrived?

"When did you get here?" As Hao Ren asked the question, he watched the demon's response carefully. Even if the demon looked friendly, he had to remain on high alert. After all, it was described as a vicious creature in many stories. Even the werewolf and vampire could not compare with the demon's position. It topped the Ultimate Boss Chart of mankind's cultural system. Then again, why di Raven 12345, the woman who claimed to be a Goddess arranged for him to meet a demon?!

"Me? I've been here for half a month. I've been asleep most of the time. I just sensed that something was happening outside," replied the demon as he continued spurting little sparks. Hao Ren jumped around while he listened to the demon to prevent himself from being lit up by the sparks. However, the demon was very polite. It insisted on looking at Hao Ren in the eye when it was speaking. Hao Ren felt like he was talking to a steel-making furnace.

"Half a month?" Hao Ren was surprised. He pointed at the Demon Stone not far away and asked, "The stone has been sealed in the castle for centuries! You've just been here for half a month? Isn't this stone yours?"

"Nope." The demon shook its head and a large flame ignited. It continued to explain, "I don't know whose stone it is. I've never seen anything like it before. But I found it fit as a power medium so, I connected my strength with the stone. I was sleeping in another dimension, I needed a doorbell."

Hao Ren thought about the big battle the three of them went through, how much fuss they created in the crypt and how much impact the Demon Stone received to finally summon the demon. "Your doorbell is not sensitive. It just started ringing after the house collapsed," muttered Hao Ren.

The demon looked massive and its hearing was surprisingly sharp. It grinned and explained, "This stone works. It's just that I was sleeping soundly. Actually, it already activated when you got close and it took more than an hour to wake me up."

Hao Ren instinctively stepped back to escape the flames coming from the demon. He appeared interested and asked, "The stone isn't yours? Then its original owner…"

"It doesn't have an owner. I saw it first so, it belongs to me." The demon's rumbling voice silenced the second half of his sentence. Then the giant creature looked around and asked, "This place is badly damaged. It wasn't me right?"

Hao Ren weakly waved his hands and said, "Wait, I have to figure everything out."

Hao Ren just sat down on the ground and started to ponder, not caring about the boss-level creature beside him. The things they went through were enough for a few movie sequels .

There was no doubt about the demon's identity. The MDT would not have lied. The demon did not have to cheat him as well. To be frank, nobody would have came to disrupt the unusual mission arranged by Raven 12345 (Hao Ren admitted that he was not worth the trouble of being plotted against). So, it looked like the demon was going to be his new tenant.

The Demon Stone, sealed hundreds of years ago in the Yorkford Castle crypt was real. However, the owner of the Demon Stone had nothing to do with the whole thing. The unlucky guy who lost the Demon Stone shall then be thrown into the garbage heap of history. Let us just forget about him.

The demon came to the Yorkford Castle half a month ago. It went to the wrong place and did not seem to be familiar with this place. Due to this, it created a hidden space straightaway, stayed there and borrowed the Demon Stone in the crypt. It then used the stone as a doorbell. Hao Ren guessed that the function of the 'doorbell' was to sense the agent who was supposed to meet it.

Then it meant that… the activation of the crypt's defense system, awakening of armored wraiths, blocking of Angus' pathway by the wall full of runes and etc all happened because of him!

It was the stone that sensed his presence nearby and activated the demonic power left in it, which then triggered a series of problems later.

There were a lot of questions left unanswered in the whole process but, it was roughly going the way it should have been.

"What the heck is this…" Hao Ren was coming to terms with the situation. He suddenly had the urge to cry. He then remembered one crucial question that had not been answered yet and asked, "Wait! Raven 12345 said that when I meet the new tenant, there would be some sort of mutual initiation between us. What about the initiation?"

"Yes, there is." The MDT finally spoke and explained. "Didn't you feel it the moment you met this big guy?"

"Feel what?"

"That little 'bang' in your head."

Hao Ren gaped and said, "That's it? That's the initiation?!"

"What else do you want?" replied the MDT arrogantly. "I've considered your condition. Your mind is slow. I was afraid that during the critical moment, the general voice prompt and vibration mode would not draw your attention. That's why I specially made you the most noticeable reminder…"

"… Couldn't you just explain it to me earlier?!" said Hao Ren

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Chapter 65: Y'zaks

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The night was still long but the castle was calm and peaceful—it seemed so, at least.

One would have remained calm only if one did not see the spectacle in the castle.

The five-meter tall demon sat with its legs crossed and still looked overly gigantic. Flame and lava spattered out constantly from it, turning the area within its ten-meter radius a glistening red. The stone under its butt had melted into lava; it was like sitting on a lake of magma. The demon and Hao Ren had verified each other's identity. Hao Ren even reconfirmed the result with the MDT. With that, the goal of their thrilling mission was finally accomplished.

However, Hao Ren felt that the ordeal was rather surreal.

"My name is Y'zaks," The demon lowered its body as it spoke. It was a polite gesture on its part but Hao Ren had to bounce about to avoid being burned and splattered with the demon's super hot lava. The demon's thunderous voice was constantly intertwined with sounds of bursting lava. Its language sounded like a mouthful. It seemed complicated. If not for the powerful interpreting brain of the MDT, Hao Ren would have given up talking to the giant. The demon was heard speaking Chinese in a Japanese-English kind of accent. "The first time we meet, it's important to be talkative—it's said that this is the way to greet someone you meet for the first time here."

Hao Ren was sweating profusely because the temperature around the demon was f*cking hot. It was not known how Raven found the strange creature. Nonetheless, he gasped at the demon's ability to converse in a civil manner. He politely nodded towards the demon which called itself Y'zaks. "Nice to meet you too. Just call me Hao Ren. Did Raven 12345 brief you about us?"

The demon replied with a wry smile, "Yes, I have been informed. I know what's going on. Please don't be afraid, I won't hurt people. I know demons aren't exactly welcomed creatures in most worlds but there's no need for overreacting. You're an agent."

"Looks like you know about the word 'agent' more than I do. In fact, I just signed up for the job." Hao Ren glanced at the demon curiously. "Actually, I'm not afraid. It's just that you're too hot to be around..."

The demon guffawed. "Ahh ha ha, that's interesting. In fact, I've made contact with the Xi Ling Celestials and ended up owing them a favor in the process. So I'm totally aware of you. By the way, let the two maidens come. No need to be always on your guard. I'm not dangerous at all. All I ask is to live in peace and have a roof over my head."

Hao Ren stared wide-eyed at the demon. Under the skin of its obsidian-like, rugged face seemed to lie a less grim personality, he thought—but it was terrifyingly ghastly at first sight. The demon sounded depressed though; if the favor he owed the Xi Ling Celestials was anything to go by, something might have happened to it. However, Hao Ren did not care at that moment. He turned around to speak with Vivian and Lily. "Okay. You two, please step forward. Vivian, could you please tuck your bats away. And Lily, please put down that damn rock; it's not your usual brick. It's a stone wall and it's over a meter long, mind you!"

Lily tossed the huge, one-ton stone on the floor with a big thud before cautiously pulling closer to Vivian. The two maidens spoke no demon language but they roughly grasped the meaning as Hao Ren and the demon spoke. Vivian stared marvelously at the huge burning lump. "Please tell me this thing isn't our new housemate."

"Bingo! His name's Y'zaks. It speaks no human language. So, I'll ask Raven if she can provide translation machines for you guys as well when I'm back there. By then, you guys will be able to communicate with ease."

The demon had taken note of the introduction. It gave Vivian and Lily a million-watt smile. Lily's tail instantly puffed up.

"...Is it speaking in demon language?" Vivian glanced at Y'zaks with a weird look on her face. "I've had numerous encounters with demons but none spoke this way. It's speaking like a tape that's playing backwards—totally illegible."

Speaking of which, Hao Ren also felt how bizarre its language was. Compounded with the accident that happened when Vivian tried to seal the Demon Stone, his curiosity for Y'zaks was piqued.

"I come from another world," Y'zaks spoke matter-of-factly. "A world not of another planet but of a different universe. My world shares the same physical constants as yours yet, it is very far from here. The planet where I lived is a little bigger than Earth so its gravitational force is a tiny bit stronger. But that's okay. It doesn't affect me much."

Hao Ren was keeping mum. So the demon added, "I was supposed to be assigned to another settlement which was roughly two billion light years from Earth. However, I wasn't fond of the high-oxygen atmosphere there. Hence, I was reassigned to your planet."

For over 10 seconds, Hao Ren stared at Y'zaks with his mouth agape before being perturbed by the demon's discorded way of speech. He said with an odd look on his face, "Well... I get what you mean but why did you describe it in such a way? I mean, you should have said that you came from another dimension or space; that you were summoned to this world by Raven with her mystic magic or something; that the force of the elements from both worlds are almost the same... I just think this should be the natural way a demon speaks. Aren't you a demon, the legendary creature..."

Y'zaks scratched its head in bewilderment. "Why should I? It sounds weird. Plus, it isn't at all scrupulous; like the conversations found in popular, heroic novels of humans in my world 1000 years ago."

"...It feels out of place when a demon speaks in terms of planets and light years," Hao Ren said.

Y'zaks shrugged. "But we already found out that we lived in a spherical planet 1000 years ago."

Hao Ren was even more speechless.

It seemed there was no point in carrying on such a conversation. Hao Ren thought that he had to resign to the Xi Ling Celestials' crazy settings for everything!

Hao Ren turned to Vivian to explain the origins of Y'zaks. The vampire maiden was wide-eyed with astonishment as she listened. The idea of extraterrestrial life was something new to her. So much more, an alien from outer space in real life. Her perspective was broadened like never before. Lily on the other hand was unfazed—she was completely clueless.

Hao Ren was in fact, as amazed as Vivian. Although an employee of the Space Administration, he never made it to the other side of an alternate reality. In spite of this, Hao Ren forced himself to act calm as he wanted to be seen as a professional or cool person. He was not plain anymore, he had become an agent of the Space Administration, he thought.

"I think this isn't the best place to chit chat." Hao Ren rose to his feet and said. Although he would have liked to carry on with the conversation, he realized they had lost track of time. He saw the light of dawn appearing across the horizon. They would risk being exposed and draw unwanted attention.

He was particularly concerned that they were being watched. After all, they caused a racket with the arrival of Y'zaks and Vivian's exaggerated actions. However, he did not have the time to think over the trivialities. He needed to get Y'zaks out and back home fast!

Hao Ren looked up. His heart sank when he saw that Y'zaks was already taller than a house even in a sitting position. He looked at the two maidens with a crying face. "How do I get you back home?"

Raven 12345 did not tip him about the fact that the new tenant was a five-meter tall volcano! He was not sure if he could buy his way home with a little help from the international smuggler. Provided of course, if he could pack the giant in a jumbo shipping container and ship it across the seven seas. Even if he could have pulled that off, considering the ground under Y'zaks' butt had already melted into a pool of lava, what kind of special container was heatproof enough to carry it?

Y'zaks was cool and he just smiled. "It's simple."

As Y'zaks spoke, it's body swiftly shrank and the burning flames as well as hot lava drew in and died down. Right on the spot, Y'zaks had shrunk and transformed itself into a two-meter burly man.

"Now, how about this?"

"...You didn't say you could shapeshift!"

"Yeah, you didn't ask either."

Hao Ren was again speechless.

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Chapter 66: Meteorite

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The two-meter tall and brawny chap stood before the trio. He was dark and taut; his strong muscles seemed ready to burst out from his skin. He was wearing a black T-shirt but it looked too small to hide his muscular upper body. His rough face, big eyes and bushy eyebrows could not help but give off a villainous impression. Frankly, he looked as badass as one could ever look on this planet.

Y'zaks was eye-catching in its human form. However, Hao Ren found an inconvenient truth: he still had to look up when talking with Y'zaks. It was stressful enough just thinking about bringing the demon home—in a best-case scenario, the bald and burly fellow would cause a whole police department to scramble for backup just by standing in front of a police station...

On the bright side, this looked miles better than the volcano form.

"Okay, let's move." Hao Ren sighed. He still had a lot to ask him but it was not the best time and place. The light show upon the demon's arrival could have already attracted eyeballs from the town. The fire department too could have possibly arrived too by then. "Wait till we get home. There are a lot more things I need to ask... Oh, something just crossed my mind!"

Hao Ren smacked his forehead as he suddenly recalled the time Angus admitted to his deception. The sighting of fire in the castle did not make sense. The fire which occurred at the very beginning of the haunting incident was not the doing of Angus.

"Was that your doing?" Hao Ren related the haunting incident once again. "So, you arrived at that time?" he asked Y'zaks.

"Yes, it was me. I'm sorry for that." Y'zaks apologized as he staggered out from the lava pool and stamped his feet to shake off the slag. His smile was as scary as ever no matter how anyone described it. "I was riding the Space Administration's immigration space vessel towards this planet. I flew myself during entry into the atmosphere but I got lost. I was supposed to land at a designated landing zone which would attract less attention. Instead, I landed here. And the landing itself was quite a scene. However, instead of making a fuss out of it, the local residents appeared to be happy. So I didn't come out to apologize as I was told not to blow my cover."

Hao Ren had been in a cold sweat but at least, he finally figured out the truth about the 'giant fireball' Angus mentioned. With the sea of fire in the sky, Y'zaks' moment of arrival was indeed as grand as the eye could see. It was visible dozens of kilometers away.

Hao Ren took the lead as they were leaving. However, just as they were about to leave, something came to Vivian's mind. "Wait a second. Don't you think we need to clean up the scene?"

Vivian spoke while she pointed at a pile of rubble on the hill. The castle ruins became a complete mess after Lily dug out most of the stones from the wall and smashed the rest. Not only that, Y'zaks' landing site was strewn with slowly, cooling lava. Soon, larsenite would form everywhere. When Nangong woke up, he would have definitely blown a huge hole, straight down to the crypt. Plus, there were tunnel exits everywhere, which had been left open by the wraith guards. Hundreds of ancient armor laid beneath the rubble; the Letta runes on the wraith guards were already defaced by the demon's power so, theoretically they would not have been walking anymore. Yet, there was no guarantee that the knights would not be alive and kicking. Obviously, leaving the mess to common people was not a good idea.

Hao Ren wanted to wash his hands of the matter but in an argument between his brain and heart, the idea of cleaning up the mess won him over.

"How do we go about this? Call for air support and blow the hell out of it?" Hao Ren shrugged and said, "I think we've got few options. How do we clean up this pile of mess with our bare hands in a short time? And mind you, I just saw some vehicles coming our way from afar. They're most likely from the town coming for the party."

Y'zaks looked on but could not understand Vivian and Hao Ren's conversation. Nevertheless, he had a rough guess. Y'zaks guffawed as he scratched his shining, bald head. He then said, "Leave it to me. You guys may want to take cover somewhere."

Sensing the demon's intention, Hao Ren could not wait to hurry Lily and Vivian up. They scrambled to a nearby hummock, leaving Y'zaks behind in the castle ruins. Before they could set their feet on the hummock, a thunderous was heard coming from the castle. "Keep going! The farther the better!"

Hao Ren was in terror. "What's he going to do? Is he planning to level the whole damn place?"

He nudged Lily. "Hurry up! That dude's going to make headlines. Oh ya, Vivian, please get Nangong and the old monk. I think they should be awake by now."

Hao Ren estimated that the ghostbusters' camp site where Nangong and the Indian monk were, was within striking distance. So he sent Vivian to get the two poor guys. Fortunately for them, Hao Ren was more thorough-minded than the two inattentive ladies—they would have been killed if left at the camp site.

They moved swiftly to a hummock farther away. At the same time, Vivian found Nangong and the Indian monk still unconscious. Hao Ren's blow on them seemed really hard.

Of course, the MDT's build was unquestionably hard.

Just after Hao Ren set his foot on another hummock, he waited for action to occur in the castle. A flash of red light then illuminated the sky.

The trio spontaneously looked up and saw the object. It was a meteorite!

A freaking real meteorite!

The massive meteorite was burning, leaving a long trail of fire as it entered the atmosphere. It was falling towards the castle with the accuracy of a guided missile. Hao Ren had only seen such a scene on TV or in video games like the 'Magic of Meteorite'. However, this was the first time he witnessed such 'special effects' in person.

Lily was in awe and expressed a long "wooooooow." Before she could finished wowing, the burning meteorite struck the castle with pinpoint accuracy!

A loud bang accompanied the impact. The force was so powerful that Hao Ren could feel his skull quaking. Seconds later, a mushroom cloud of dust rose from the site of the . They could feel the earth trembling beneath their feet even though they were far from the impact point. A shock wave expanded outwards and towards them, carrying a strong smell of sulfur and dust. Things could have been terrible, much like the end of the world if they were nearer to the landing site.

A real meteorite was so much more fun than the one in video games, Hao Ren thought.

When everything settled down and went back to normal, the sky appeared to be torn in half. The shock wave had blown a clear opening in the sky—the clouds were cleared away. When the first ray of the morning sun shone across the land, the castle was completely gone.

The rock, the hill and the crypt; everything that stood there a moment ago had vanished. A burning crater had taken their place. Surrounding the crater were cracked lines in the earth created by the impact.

While Hao Ren stood still in awe, a little whirlwind appeared and Y'zaks emerged from it right beside him. The demon then spoke with an awkward expression on his face, "Was it a little too loud? The meteorite, I brought it from the Kuiper belt. You know, I didn't have time to find a smaller one. I thought this one would be just fine not knowing that it contained manganese nodules. I thought it was an ice rock. An ice rock would have been less powerful. By the way, your Solar System is one hell of a place, a perfect place for meteorite fireworks."

Hao Ren remained silent.

Hao Ren shook his head helplessly. "The can of worms is gone. We'll leave the meteorite to the English astrophysicists to explain. Let's go guys, hurry up!"

By then, Nangong, who was lying on the ground had finally woken up—possibly awakened by the meteorite's impact. The half-baked demon-hunter rose to his feet before reaching for the back of his head with his hand and uttered, "O-o-oy." He then sensed a burning smell in the air. "*cough, what happened to me?"

The abbreviated piece of nothing could not have woken up at a better moment!

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Chapter 67: It's Over

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Nangong woke up and discovered himself lying on a hummock in the middle of nowhere. He rubbed the back of his head as he got on his feet. The sky was gradually turning bright. The spooky moment in the crypt was like a bad dream.

He frowned as the pain in the back of his head as well as the unbearable burning smell in the atmosphere made him sick. He continued to cough and mumbled, "What happened to me?"

Hao Ren signaled Vivian, Lily and Y'zaks to keep quiet as he smacked Nangong on the shoulder. He said, "Awake? Let's see the headline."

"Hao Ren?" Nangong was surprised to see the three of them as well as the stranger who looked like an imposing villain. "Are you guys alright? Did the evil wraiths hurt you? Who is this gentleman... Holy moly, what's that?"

Nangong finally saw the crater, which was spewing smoke and ashes. He also saw a couple of stones left near the crater. Judging from the landscape in his surroundings, he could tell it was the Yorkford Castle. However, a pit and a puddle of ever so slowly cooling lava were all that was left of the old castle after just one night. Nangong was totally dumbfounded at what had transpired.

"You wouldn't believe what just happened. A meteorite fell from the sky and hit the castle. It's gone just like that." Hao Ren spoke with straight face.

Nangong listened with awe as he rubbed the back of his head again. "Wait a second. I was fighting the evil wraiths in the crypt. There were wraith knights everywhere and you guys were right behind me... And then I felt a pain in the back of my head. That's the last thing remember."

Hao Ren acted even more sincere this time as he spoke with a trembling voice, "Speaking of which, I'm still shaking like a leaf. It was a miracle that we got out of that damn place alive. While you fought fearlessly in the crypt, the roof collapsed on you. You passed out and I was rooted to the spot, waiting for my final moments. Suddenly, all the wraith knights dropped down like bowling pins, lying motionless on the floor. We broke our backs trying to get you... and this old man out of that hellhole. We thought of waiting for daybreak so that we could hitch a ride back home. But, this place is too creepy to stay even a second longer so, we kept running. That decision saved us all as a meteorite fell from the sky 10 minutes ago and the rest is history."

Hao Ren had been pretending to be like clueless, common folk. He did not try to explain why the armored wraiths fell and lied down on the floor motionless; he did not bother to explain how on earth a meteorite could have struck the castle into a pit with surgical precision. He simply used a bizarre story to explain it, leaving Nangong to fill in the blanks.

Hao Ren was being crooked: I'm just a clueless guy. Bite me—

Nangong simply could not wrap his head around it but he did not question Hao Ren. He did not suspect that the common man and two innocent maidens had anything to do with all of it. This 'expert' was using his logic to make a conjecture: "Maybe the wraiths were controlled by something larger in the crypt. Such things happened all the time in places with hundreds of years of history... That has to be the case. After all, I'm an expert."

Hao Ren and Vivian spontaneously rolled their eyes in secret. Such a thick-skinned fellow!

Staring regrettably at the pit of Armageddon, Nangong knew there were secrets down there—secrets which would explain why the wraiths suddenly dropped to the ground and how he was saved by these three common folks. However, there was nothing left to see let alone investigate now.

Hao Ren gave Y'zaks a grateful glance. The meteorite was seriously a Swiss Army knife. Normally during a meteorite strike, as long as the magic was not performed in plain view, you did not have to worry about the narrative. No one on this planet would ever believe that there was someone capable of bringing a rock back from the Kuiper Belt. The only ones who would delve into it were astrophysicists—and this half-baked ghostbuster.

Soon after, crowds of spectators from Brewshire started to pour in.

A few jeeps pulled up near the spot where the castle formerly stood, only to be held back by the thick smoke and strong heat of the molten space rock. In fact, people from the small town had seen the fire during Y'zaks' landing. The spectators and paranormal enthusiasts prepped their gears and departed at once from the town. However, there was no access road from the town to Yorkford Castle. Vehicles could only tread along the rocky terrain. Not even the best jeeps could go much faster than that. That meant the folks had only spotted the tip of the iceberg: the moment the fireball fell from the sky.

Even the bravest person would not dare to head straight towards a falling meteorite. They only arrived after they waited the shock wave and explosion out. They surrounded the spot of the vanished castle and discussed among themselves. One was sending tweets out with his smartphone, one was taking a selfie in front of the crater, one was holding a ghost detector with a sad look, one was sitting on the ground and behaving hysterically while one was proclaiming to be the Lord of Yorkford. He appeared to have something to say—this one was still energetic after a restless night.

Most of the folks were shocked. These people did not have the reasoning ability of a professional. They felt like they could brag about these major events, which happened one after another near their small town.

Hao Ren and the rest were ready to drop after the restless night so, they hitched a ride heading back to town. In the meantime, Nangong and the Indian monk, who was still half-conscious—the old man was indeed less fit as he took a considerably longer time to recover—were on foot. The half-baked demon hunter kept babbling, "How could it be? How could it be?"

All evidence had been vaporized, not even Sherlock Holmes could have traced it back to the demon, which descended from heaven.

The company arrived back in town. They could have in fact headed back to London straightaway, but Vivian had another idea; she wanted to go check out the lodge owner to make sure there would be no trouble in the future. Hao Ren and Lily had no objection to that, of course. On the other hand, Y'zaks had been silent ever since they left Yorkford Castle as though something was weighing on his mind. He only responded by nodding his head.

Hao Ren did not bother with him as this was only the first time they had met. They did not know each other well enough to poke their nose into each other's business.

Four of them finally arrived at the little lodge at the edge of the town. Just as they had expected, the lodge owner, Angus was not at his usual spot greeting his guests at the reception area.

"Boss was sent back last night. He looked ill. I haven't seen him since then."

The young lady behind the cashier counter (not from the day before) told the guests frankly.

Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief after coming out from the lodge and said, "Looks like he didn't go around telling everybody. Furthermore, he doesn't even know our true identities."

However, Vivian knew better. She had dispatched her little bat to scout for him. Angus was found lying in bed with a blank stare on his face somewhere in the lodge. It seemed like the fat owner had been scared out of his wits the night before. He was probably going to be fine after some time. About the truth down there...

No one was going to know about it.

They eventually headed back to London. Unlike the last time, they did not book some fancy high-end hotel but checked in to whatever hotel they could find. After all, they just needed a day of rest before leaving. Plus, Y'zaks was waiting for his travel documents to be processed.

While hanging around the hotel, Hao Ren got in contact with Raven 12345.

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Chapter 68: A New Life

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Well, that was one heck of a mission and Hao Ren was thoroughly spent. He never thought that he would be an intergalactic hero after living as a normal civilian for twenty-odd years. Yet at his current rate... he could nary be a foot soldier, much less a hero.

He managed to get a hold of Raven 12345 through the MDT. The crazy Goddess had just finished gardening and was cleaning up. Hao Ren saw that she was still lugging the same giant blade she used the last time she was gardening via the holographic projection. She looked comical like someone who just returned from a cosplay convention.

Hao Ren's gaunt look was evident when he tiredly recounted the events of the past two days. He looked at Raven 12345 anticipatingly when he finished. "Reckon I did well in my job eh?"

Raven 12345 nodded. "You did pretty well."

Hao Ren looked on in silence. He never thought Raven 12345 would give him a word of praise.

"What? You want to me to write you a commendation?" Raven 12345 quickly picked up the awkward stare that Hao Ren gave her. "You think crossing the globe to pick up a new tenant's a monumental task?"

"Sure. Just think of what I went through," Hao Ren grumbled. "I even fought against a few hundred wraiths and ran into a wannabe demon hunter. That itself is too much of a thrill ride."

Raven 12345 hesitated for a while and nodded in ascent. "Hmm.. well, this could indeed count as exceeding expectations. Based on your stats, you're probably still a novice. Your combat strength is no more than five and well, your ability to hold your own despite not having much combat experience did surprise me. Hmm... you know what, I'll give you something when you're back... and you just barely passed for a commendation by the way. While you were indeed out on civilian work, it is still taken into account under the Space Administration's merit system.

Hao Ren suddenly perked up with interest and wanted to ask Raven about the commendation. However, she did not seem particularly interested in the matter so Hao Ren moved on to his next question. "Well, now that we have Y'zaks... how do I get him back? I just realized something... While you have given us more than enough money to spend... Y'zaks does not have a travel visa! He's only holding onto the stuff that was given to him, a Chinese identification card..."

Raven 12345 smacked her forehead. "Ah, so that's what it was! No wonder I felt something was missing! I only made arrangements for the three of you!"

Hao Ren felt vindicated in not placing much faith in Raven 12345.

"Just hang on a bit... Y'zaks visa isn't it?" Raven 12345 did not look embarrassed at all. "The paperwork stuff is usually done by my underlings but let me do it for you this time. Give me a moment, I'm gonna start on it now... one, two, three... aaaanddd, done!"

Hao Ren was just about to turn the MDT off when he heard that Raven was going to settle the paperwork. He thought he probably would have needed to wait a day or so for it to be done. Never did he expect Raven 12345 would complete the needed procedures in a matter of seconds. She gleefully gestured for Hao Ren to put his hands out. "Stretch it out long and nice... Yep, just like that!"

Hao Ren suddenly felt his arms becoming heavy and he saw a big sack of documents lying on his outstretched arms.

"F*ck me..." Hao Ren gawked in amazement at the speed that Raven took to complete the paperwork. "Bloody hell.. is this just the baseline of what she can do? Instantaneous processing plus delivery via teleportation..."

Raven 12345 heard Hao Ren mumbling to himself and asked curiously, " What you saying?"

"Uh... nothing, I was saying that you work fast. Heh, very fast..."

"Of course, I'm a Goddess after all. Well, that's that. Now that your documents are all in place, get your butts back here as soon as you can. You've already made quite a ruckus out there. Staying too long will just spell trouble."

After leaving the message, Raven 12345 cut off the communication link.She sounded vaguely concerned.

It was smooth sailing after that. Hao Ren and the rest thought of staying in London for another day or two to recuperate. At the very least, to rid themselves of the fatigue from the previous battle. Raven 12345's advice for them to make haste put rest to the plan. She had even bought tickets for them to depart the next day. So off they went back to China.

Arriving back on home soil really did wonders for Hao Ren as he looked at the scenery of the Southern Suburbs. Taking a deep breath, the adventures he had in England seemed like a dream. Only the two- meter tall bloke beside him reminded him of the fact that it was not a dream.

Hao Ren could not help but be reminded of the sorry demon hunter. They never had a chance to say hello or goodbye properly. Nangong was a special person and having fought together... (more like a bond of hitting Nangong's head with a brick), Nangong left quite an impression on him with his reckless fighting spirit. It was a pity he did not have the chance to bid farewell as Vivian did not want to have anything to do with the man any longer than she had to, given his identity.

The only cause for concern was Nangong's true identity. Whether he was a bona fide demon hunter or not and whether he would be a source of trouble in the future, no one knew. Granted, Hao Ren and the rest managed to hide their true identities from him. They did not have much cause to believe that he knew of the matter. The meteorite had also put a stop to his investigations. He did however worry if Nangong would one day find out that he was the one who had rendered him unconscious.

Anyway, as of then, things were fine as they were. Even if the heavens were to collapse, there was a tall guy right beside him ready to play the role of Atlas.

Hao Ren felt much relief after thinking things through. In front of him was a familiar structure, his house. He quickly raised his chest and patted Y'zaks on the shoulder. "Look, this is my house!" He introduced the new tenant to his new living place.

Y'zaks looked on impassively, showing neither surprise nor disdain. He just calmly nodded. "Hmm, peace and quiet. As long as it's peaceful and quiet it's fine."

Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks in a funny way. "Hey big guy, what's with the dour mood? You looked bored throughout the journey. You spoke at times and remained completely silent at times."

Y'zaks gave Hao Ren a wry smile. Even with a smile, his facial expression was still rather intimidating. "It's nothing. I lived long enough and troubles are certain to follow with time. But all's good now. I'm tired of fighting as it is and I don't need any more trouble. I just want a place where I can be left alone to live my life in peace and quiet. The Space Administration promised me such a place until I get tired of it... That said, are you okay with this?"

Hao Ren expressed his objection. "Damn those pen pushers in the administration, doing as they please." Then, he thought of the contract he had signed with them. Shrugging it off, he said, "It's fine, I'm just the landlord. Whoever wishes to stay can stay."

While this was indeed true, Hao Ren left something out. He never thought that he would be hosting a group of non-humans!

The house was the way they left it. Just that dust had built up from the time they were away. It was great that Vivian had the foresight to cover most of the important furniture and electronics with sheets of cloth. It made cleaning up easy. Looking at Vivian darting about cleaning the place, Y'zaks finally had a curious frown on his face. "So... that's her job here?"

The demon thought that he would also be required to do house chores.

"Vivian's a special case." Hao Ren laughed. "She can't afford the rent so, she does housework in place… willingly. Anyway, Raven 12345 did say that you guys could claim your expenses from her.

Y'zaks blinked. "Looks like I still have a lot to get used to..."

Hao Ren smiled dryly. He thought to himself as he caught sight of Rollie returning to the place: "Oh, you do have a lot to get used to, big guy." Y'zaks would have a long and hard time understanding why a house cat was second in command of the house.

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Chapter 69: Swapping Rooms

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It did not take long for Rollie to show up after Hao Ren and the gang reached home.

No one knew how this black cat, which was barely a meter long had a radar-like sensory system. Not long after Hao Ren took a seat on the sofa, he heard a series of light knocks on the window facing the main road. He looked up and saw Rollie bashing the window pane with his tail.

Y'zaks was watching a television series on the research of humanity when he also noticed the cat. A faint look of surprise appeared on his face. "Your cat?"

Hao Ren quickly rose to open the window for Rollie and answered without turning back. "Ah, the name's Rollie. Don't pay too much attention to the name. Just call it that."

Rollie seemed to look much rounder even though he was supposed to be out and about with no one to care for him. No one knew how he survived the mean streets of the Southern Suburbs too. He jumped onto Hao Ren's shoulder without much effort and started brushing against Hao Ren's neck. He then noticed that there was a stranger in the hall and looked at Y'zaks curiously.

It was not the first time Rollie had met strangers. He just never saw anyone that tall before. Surely everyone has seen a dog but when someone runs into a giant foxhound like Charlie, their expression would have been the same.

A nostalgic frown appeared on Y'zaks face. "A pet... I also had a kitten a long time ago."

"Oh, you had a cat?"

A mental image of a five-meter tall, fire demon hugging a small kitten appeared in Hao Ren's mind. The kitten was a roasted one...

Y'zaks smiled. "No, there are no cats in the Demonic Abyss. I just called it Kitten. It was a hell hound. Even when lying down it's about two heads taller than you. It has since passed on. It could have came here with me but it refused, so..."

Hao Ren could not help but snicker inwards about Y'zaks calling his dog, Kitten.

By then, Lily had finished unpacking and skipped out of her room like a hyperactive bunny into the hall. The moment she saw Rollie on Hao Ren's shoulder, she quickly stopped and greeted Rollie with a respectful tone. She then introduced the cat to Y'zaks.

"Hey big guy! Let me introduce you to Rollie, the number two of this place. I'm number three, you're number four… that telly set is number five and Battie is last..."

Lily was rambling endlessly and was clearly happy that she was home after being away for so long. Like an excited puppy, she ran around the place and even managed to crack a joke with Y'zaks nonchalantly (Lily had a dislike towards demonkind). A pity the joke flew past Y'zaks head and he looked at Hao Ren blankly. "What's she saying?"

"Just ignore her lunatic ramblings." Hao Ren laughed. "Let's find Raven 12345 tomorrow. Let her fix the language issue. Oh right, are you hungry? Wanna eat?"

Y'zaks just shook his head. "No thanks, just tell me where my room is. I want to take a nap. Will let you know once I'm awake."

Hao Ren remembered Y'zaks saying that he slept most of the time since he came to Earth. And to sleep again made Hao Ren think along the lines of a familiar novel plot line. "Oh I get it, you've spent too much energy traveling through dimensions and you're resting to restore your lost energy?"

Y'zaks gave Hao Ren an odd look. "Why do you assume too much? It's the jet lag..."

Hao Ren had no answer. "...Come, there's an empty room upstairs."

Y'zaks nodded and followed Hao Ren towards the stairway. Vivian suddenly shouted from the kitchen. "Mr. Landlord, are you arranging a room for the big guy? I have something to discuss with you."

Hao Ren looked at Vivian curiously, noticing that her face was twitching slightly. "What's wrong?"

"You can just give the big guy my room." Vivian requested. She was jittery as she thought her request would be causing trouble. "I want to move to the basement."

Hao Ren stared at Vivian because he misunderstood her. He quickly put on a concerned look. "Look, is Lily taunting you about your rent again? Just ignore her. I'm not even bothered by it so, why should you. I can't just chase you off to the basement just because you can't pay rent..."

Vivian put her hand up. "No, no... I don't mean that... I really want to move to the basement..."

The vampire pointed towards the bright sun as she went on. "I've already been weakened by daylight and I need a dark, shady place to rest. While those of us who are high-born do not fear sunlight, we still prefer to avoid it if possible. I know that you gave me the room out of kindness but at this rate my endocrine production wouldn't just go out of whack, it may even dissipate altogether..."

Hao Ren thought Vivian was just making things up but she did go to the extend of listing her vampiric nature with a serious look on her face. He then knew that she really did want to move to the basement and did not question her further. He however, had a tinge of awkwardness in his voice. "The basement is spacious, I give you that. I rented out that room before so it has water and electrical supplies. It's just that there's a whole load of junk in there and it needs a good cleaning."

"No worries! I can do that!" Vivian looked somewhat proud. "I'm just that good at making a place for myself despite the circumstances. Almost a pro at it."

Hearing that and looking at Vivian's anticipation, Hao Ren felt bad for the unlucky vampire, wondering how she survived in the past.

Vivian ran up and down the house cleaning, with Hao Ren lending her a hand. It did not take long before the house was spick and span again. Y'zaks did not carry any luggage with him and used magic to solve all his needs. He pulled whatever he needed from the void. As such, Hao Ren just needed to give him an empty room. As for Vivian, her request was even simpler. A place away from the sun; she did not even need air conditioning (she could chill the air around her easily) and that was that.

The basement was about the size of the house and Hao Ren had previously rented it out. In the glory days of his business venture, he had renovated the basement. He divided the place into two separate rooms, one as a storeroom and the other as a small, fully furnished suite. Excluding the lack of windows, it was similar to the other rooms in the house.

As there were no tenants for the past two years, Hao Ren had inadvertently stuffed the room with some junk. Thankfully, it was not difficult to clean the place and after a while Hao Ren had gathered all the junk and prepared to move them to the storeroom next door.

Vivian by then had came down to her new room with her small luggage. She saw Hao Ren squatting by a wooden crate and asked out of curiosity, "Mr. Landlord, moving the stuff over to the storeroom?"

"Yep, will do that in a bit. Truthfully, none of these things have any use now but I just can't bear to throw them away. These are stuff from my childhood." Hao Ren looked nostalgically at the items in the wooden box. "Those were pretty rad stuff when I was a kid. Even fought with the neighbor's son for them. Look how worn out they've become..."

Vivian scratched her head. "They look new to me..."

Hao Ren almost choked himself. Recounting nostalgia with an old hag, who used an old antique as an amulet of protection was just asking for his pride to be wounded.

Vivian saw the awkward look on Hao Ren's face and quickly changed the topic, pointing towards the items in the box for their stories.

"...This is the lunchbox I used when I was in junior high. This is the game console from when I was a kid. It used cartridges like this. I kept breaking the outer cover apart and just jammed the circuit board into the machine. God, it felt high tech back then. And this is the schoolwork from the guy who sat next to me in class... Wait, the f*ck is this thing doing here? And oh, half of a one-dollar note. I had always wondered when I would pick up the other half when I first saw this note..." Hao Ren regaled the tales of his childhood items to Vivian. Each item seemed like a treasure to him. He even managed to surprise himself at times.

Vivian listened on intently. The two, who had a gap of at least hundreds of generations were talking about Hao Ren's childhood items excitedly. That was until Hao Ren pulled out a metal object from the box. It was in the shape of a diamond. Vivian's eyes widened.

"This... I don't even know where it came from." Hao Ren totally missed the change in Vivian's expression and played with the object in his hand. "It looks like a handicraft from somewhere. No one knows what the inscription means..."

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Chapter 70: Do You Still Want a Skill Compendium?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren was fiddling with the metallic object in his hand like a normal toy. There was nothing particularly special about it.

It was a diamond-shaped metal piece, the size of a palm. It looked like a metal wedge on a rusty old farming tool. It was black with a tinge of grey and the surface was wrought with marks of wear and tear. One part of it was particularly smooth, with wavy lines arrayed across the surface. They looked almost identical to the character that represents 'elephants' in old Chinese script. Hao Ren was pretty sure it was just another piece of metal. He tried to use a magnet on the thing.

"Let me have a look." Vivian grabbed the object. Her voice had a tinge of concern in it. She played around with the object, trying to discern its origins. Looking at her actions, Hao Ren asked curiously, "You've seen this before?"

"...I'm not very sure but, it does look familiar..." Vivian frowned. "Not exactly the same object but, I've seen the markings on the surface before. Where did you get it?"

"I don't know..." Hao Ren ruffled his hair. "I do remember having this when I was very young, around four or five. Back then, I was a brat. I could remember it being missing from my toy box. I remember clearly that I picked it up somewhere and I treated it like treasure. Just couldn't bear to throw it out."

Vivian clearly looked unsatisfied with Hao Ren's response. She held the metal piece tightly and brushed her finger against the marking. It took her a good couple of minutes before she recalled something. "I remember seeing this symbol. It's been a very, very long time ago... At least 1000 years ago, give or take? I don't remember the details though. You know how it is with me and my memory. I can't recall anything too far back."

Hao Ren gulped. He totally missed what Vivian said except the part about '1000 years'. He yelped excitedly. "You mean, this is a piece of antique? A thousand-year old antique?"

Vivian rolled her eyes. "Well, you could try selling it at the antique fare."

Hao Ren laughed awkwardly. He knew his old habits had emerged again and they left the subject at that. He stored the metal piece back in the box carefully. Valuable or not, it did not really matter when it gave an old hag like Vivian a scare. That itself was golden.

The both of them continued cleaning the basement. There was not much junk to begin with and Hao Ren cleaned the place rather frequently,.So, it only took a moment before they were done with it and all the junk was moved to the storeroom next door. They also took the chance to clean out whatever useless junk that should have been discarded years ago.

Within a few moments, the basement had turned into a clean, new bedroom. It came furnished with the necessary furniture, it even had an internet port and best of all, it was devoid of the sunlight, which Vivian hated. There was only a small window in the western part of the wall, half buried in the house's layer of foundation. Only by dusk did rays of light permeate through the window port. It suited Vivian perfectly.

Hao Ren still felt bad about letting a pretty lass like Vivian (please remember that vampires are eternally 17) stay in the basement. However, seeing that the room had become spick and span, he did not feel as guilty as before. Most importantly, Vivian looked extremely pleased. She even dusted off the dirt that had gathered on Hao Ren's shirt during the course of the cleaning. "Mr. Landlord, you're too kind. No one has treated me this nicely before. That other time..."

Well, it would have been centuries before Vivian would finish recounting her sob stories. All we need to know is, Lily finally felt like she had found paradise after living in hardship and poverty for about 1000 years. Surprisingly, Vivian was easily satisfied and that was a plus point. It made her an easy person to support.

Y'zaks on the other hand, took a few days to get used to his new life. So did Vivian, who was the home chef. She had to contend with two big eaters at home. (The first one being Lily who could wolf down three bowls of noodles in one go). Hao Ren noticed that new tenant seemed to be getting along well with the rest. The demon was a content creature and had a surprisingly good temper as opposed to the stereotype. This at least, reassured Hao Ren that his life would not become even more haywire than it already was. Heaven knows with Vivian and Lily around, another tenant with a grumpy mood would have probably sent Hao Ren sleeping on the streets.

With everything in the household settled for the moment, Hao Ren moved on to the most pertinent matter at hand: Meeting Raven 12345. They had not met for a good few days and Hao Ren had even more questions to ask now.

Hao Ren took off to Bastard Barrio the next morning in the usual rickety bus. After a while, he got off near the grand looking place: Heaven's Office on Earth or HoE for short.

Raven 12345's luxurious mansion looked the same as it always had, perpetually stuck in a pocket of space and time where it was eternally a misty dawn. Around the perimeter, a cloud of seemingly impenetrable mist swirled about. At times, Hao Ren wanted to see what was beyond the mist. Perhaps he could have seen what 'heaven' looked like. It never actually happened though and Hao Ren did not have the guts to even bring it up to Raven 12345. Who knows, the crazy Goddess may not have taken too kindly to his curiosity and proceeded to off him right on the spot.

A cerulean elemental slave led Hao Ren to Raven 12345's office. Upon opening the door, he saw the Goddess focusing on a holographic image floating above her desk. A frown appeared from time to time, followed by a look of deep thought. Hao Ren was surprised. He never thought Raven 12345 would have a serious moment while working.

By then, Raven 12345 sensed that someone had entered her office. She looked up and greeted Hao Ren loudly, "Yo, Hao Ren! Haven't seen you for a while. Looking fine there I see. Got rid of your jet lag already?"

"Oh, I'm okay." Hao Ren just could not take the Goddess seriously enough to treat her with reverence. As time passed, his attitude towards her had transformed into something like running into a superior in office. "I'm here to―"

"Hold your horses! I need you to give me a full AAR of the mission." Raven 12345 waved her hands "The stuff you told me the other day was too brief. I can't write a report with that."

Oh, that was just bloody rich. A Goddess needing to submit a report...

Hao Ren cleared his throat and recounted what happened in England two days ago. He also made mention of the wraiths beneath Yorkford Castle and Nangong, the demon hunter. He felt that they were the biggest surprises of the mission and thought they were worth the mention. Raven 12345 hesitated for a moment after listening to Hao Ren's account of the events. She asked, "What do you think was the biggest obstacle during the mission?"

Hao Ren looked down thoughtfully and finally spoke, "My mortal body. I seriously can't deal with this god forsaken job. I mean... I need some sort of combat or survival ability. I almost died trying to keep up with Lily in the crypt. Most of the time, I wasn't even fighting the creeps. It was more like me trying not to get beaten up by them. I could have seriously died from that! The strengthening of the body did work but it's not sufficient to keep me alive. Maybe try not to give me such a doomed mission?"

"Uh... that was one of the easiest missions around. The other's to negotiate a peace treaty in Mintaka. You're up for that?" Raven 12345 rolled her eyes. "But it's true that you do need to strengthen your body. Conditioning will only give you the basics but combat prowess requires training. How about this... I'll give you―"

Hao Ren quickly interjected before Raven 12345 could finish her sentence. "You're giving me a Secret Skill Compendium isn't it? There's actually something like that?!"

"Hehehe..." Raven 12345 glanced at Hao Ren. "You've been reading too many fantasy novels. Do you think that you'll be invincible with just the Skill Compendium? Even that takes time to master. Most people take months to even get the spell casting sequence of a fireball right. A high level spell would require an even more complex mathematical algorithm. Do you think this is a game? Double clicking a skill book is gonna allow you to shoot frost bolts from your hands? Hah, good luck with that. You think that someone who moans at a simple mathematical equation can survive studying a tome of forbidden spells? The first chapter itself would probably put you to tears. So... do you still want the Secret Skill Compendium?"

Hao Ren could only look on in silence.

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Chapter 71: Lecturing

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ever since Hao Ren knew Raven 12345, there was never any good news from the woman. Somehow, she just had a negative vibe to her. Whenever something exciting happened, Raven 12345 would definitely discourage him, including the leakage about the Secret Skill Compendium.

Hao Ren did not say a word. Raven 12345 thought the heavy blow on Hao Ren was not hurtful enough and kept on nagging, "No pain, no gain. You need to learn, to keep practicing it in order to master it. There is no skill on earth that you can master easily in a day or two. There is no fast track. It all takes time to learn and practice. You can't even memorize a simple mathematical formula, how do you expect yourself to memorize more than 20 lines of runes in the Otherworld? Do you think you'll have the strength to lift a Dragon Sword if you can't even handle a 200-meter run? You can't handle simple and easy things on Earth. Even if you travel to a magical land, you'll still just be a poor student there. I knew a fool before. He kept lamenting about the injustice in his life. The main reason he thought he was an unsuccessful laborer was that he lived in a dull world. He didn't get the chance to encounter a story-like adventure. I was holding a 'Great Bargain of Wishes' that time. So, I fulfilled his wish and turned him back into a six-year old.I sent him to the best magic school in Bantooine Land. The guy was still a poor student in the Otherworld and today he's still a laborer. Therefore, don't be impatient. Take one step at a time. I'll arrange a training program for you. It's tough but you won't die. You can slowly grow accustomed to your body changes and temper your mental. You see, you've taken a shortcut compared to other people. You just need to train your mind. I can directly improve your physical and special abilities via physical enhancement. My only request is that you train your mind to be able to control your own power."

"Think about those unlucky kids who have to run 5000 meters, do 50 push-ups and swim 2 kilometers everyday. They even have to count their calorie intake for every meal. And look at the good physique you have. You could beat the boxers in illegal, underground matches now. You should be happy," she added.

Raven 12345's words silenced him. He suddenly realized that the unreliable Goddess probably had a conscientious side after all. Though she was always careless, undignified, sloppy and had stains of last week's instant noodle soup on her desk, she was still a good Goddess.

At least she would not just improve people's strength and leave them. She would support them from behind carefully and think everything through for her inexperienced, new employees. To be frank, Hao Ren was a little moved.

That was until Raven 12345 grabbed a little pill out of nowhere.

"Come on, eat this. I knew you would keep talking about your combat strength when you came back. I've already prepared this for you," Raven whispered softly and smiled. Hao Ren remembered how his mother tricked him into taking medicine the same way.

"What is it!?" Hao Ren jumped back right away and lowered his body a little to defend himself.

"This little pill lets you see the real world…"

"Don't be funny. The punchline from The Matrix is already out of date okay. Nobody remembers it now."

Raven 12345 moved and appeared right before Hao Ren in a flash. She held his mouth open and threw the little pill in. "Just eat it like a man. This is an armament issued by the Space Administration, specially prepared for newbies who pass the initial task."

Hao Ren lowered his guard after he heard the last sentence. He then chewed the pill and swallowed it. "It tastes sour. What the heck is this for?"

"Sour?" Raven 12345 was stunned for a few seconds. Then she patted her head and took another pill from her pocket. "Oh, I got the wrong one. This is the pill for you. Don't worry. You can't die from taking the wrong pill. This pill can leave an imprint in your mind and reinforce your mental state through brain symbiosis. This is the Ministry of Military's latest invention. Previously it was only for the army but recently, they started giving it to agents as well. The pill will take effect soon. Although you can't feel it, it will effectively prevent you from going brain dead as a result of all sorts of accidents as well as help you fight against mental shock. The human species is too weak. If you don't strengthen your mental power, you can't even use our common gear. How do you feel by the way?"

Hao Ren refused to talk about the wrong pill and shuddered as he took the second pill. His forehead started to sweat and he asked, "Brain symbiosis?! Why does it sound scary..."

"Yes, some species show resistance when confronted with this device, especially the standard Type III human." Raven 12345 was not surprised at Hao Ren's response and continued explaining, "You're instinctively afraid of something that sounds like a parasite. However, this isn't a parasite. It's a reinforcing piece. It's a lifeless mini device. Just like soldiers who wear external armor, this mini device is the armor of your mind. It provides you with double reinforcement from body to soul. It's not unpleasant when you think of it this way, right?"

Hao Ren accepted her explanation and ignored the vague sense of discomfort that loomed deep down in his heart as usual. He would discover the value of the little pill he just ate, in the future.

Raven 12345 looked at Hao Ren with satisfaction. She seemed optimistic about his composure. Shortly after, she went back to her desk. She adjusted her posture to appear serious and said, "The new employment insurance has been sent to you. Now let's discuss the questions regarding your intensive training. Things like the Secret Skill Compendium don't really work. However, I know of a good training ground, the only one of its kind in this world. It's not easy to find a place like this anywhere else."

Hao Ren's ears perked up and he asked, "Where is it?"

"Go home and have a dream. Train in The Plane of Dreams." Raven 12345 smirked and said, "You can live alone in the wild or find a place where people gather. Use your brain to find ways to survive. The former helps you learn to face danger, the latter helps you learn to adapt to an unfamiliar environment with strangers. These two skills are a must as an agent.

Hao Ren was immediately reminded of the giant wolf in his nightmare a few nights ago. While he had the experience of dealing with armored wraiths in the crypt, he could not forget the choking feeling in his neck. His breathing slowed down immediately and he asked, "The Plane of Dreams? Didn't you tell me not to touch that stuff!? You said it's dangerous there…"

Raven 12345 rolled her eyes and said, "Because that time you were just a dumb newbie. Now, you're a newbie. So, you can go and train in The Plane of Dreams now. It's just a twisted place that's linked to the real world. The physical parameters are the same as the Superficial World. It's not going to kill you. Thus, it'll be a good fit for you. Of course, if you don't want to, I can arrange another place for you. There's a new recruit training ground in the Grand Trine Galaxy. You'll be teaming up with more than 200 men to kill 30,000 beasts…"

Hao Ren suddenly stood up. With a determined look on his face, he said, "The Plane of Dreams, is it? For the sake of world peace, I'll do it!"

"Stop trembling when you say it then if you really dare to go."

Hao Ren was quiet.

"Don't worry, you won't die," Raven said as she smiled. "Why did I give you the little pill just now? The pill's most important function is to protect your brain and your soul, to prevent them from dying. As long as you're not physically inside The Plane of Dreams, you won't die in that place. The worst thing that will happen to you is waking up from the nightmare and peeing yourself…"

Hao Ren was sweating. "As a Goddess, can't you talk a little more gracefully?"

"Oh, you're gonna drown in bed and wake up from all the fear."

Hao Ren was speechless.

Just as Hao Ren was about to touch on the 'graceful' issue again and ask Raven how he could consciously enter The Plane of Dreams, someone suddenly pushed the door open.

A blue elemental servant bowed respectfully at the door and uttered a muffled, deep sound that no one could understand.

Raven 12345 got up immediately and replied, "Oh, I'll be back. I have something for you. Wait here."

As soon as she finished, the Goddess disappeared in a flash and left Hao Ren there, completely confused.

Hao ren did not know what was happening but he was too afraid to leave as well. After wandering around the room, he found something that made him curious.

Raven 12345 was examining something similar to the MDT on her desk earlier on. The device was still on and a holographic projection floated above it.

Hao Ren slowly wandered over and thought, "Just a peak. It should be fine, right?"

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Chapter 72: The Crazy Woman

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Just a little peak should be okay…"

Hao Ren kept looking around like a thief. It was as though the room was full of cameras. He muttered to himself as he walked towards Raven 12345's desk. He wondered what was above the Goddess's MDT. Curiosity was part of his human nature. Though he felt like it was something boring, he could not help himself.

When he saw the projection, he found that it looked like a forum page. The text on the page was not in human language. However, with the MDT's seamless translation, the text could be fully understood. "City of Shadows Community Chat Room" was written on the top of the page. He remembered City of Shadows being the capital of Xi Ling Empire. Mortals also perceived it as the "Supreme Realm of the Gods". Hao Ren could feel a solemn vibe the moment he read the title. He was then shocked by the topic of the first thread, which was posted at the top of the page.

"I was transferred to a primitive universe to be a God recently. How do I pretend to be an experienced God?" Waiting on the line urgently - Raven 12345, via the Magic Type Data Terminal, posted 30 minutes ago.

The post of Hao Ren's unreliable female boss had gathered more than 230 likes. It was pinned at the top of the forum…

Hao Ren silently walked away and sat back on his seat. He buried his head in his hands and wondered what would happen if Raven 12345 found out he had read the post. Would the crazy Goddess get angry and kill him in seconds?

Anyway, Hao Ren's unrealistic view of the Space Administration collapsed at this point. Although he knew that the Space Administration was a terrible behemoth, it was even more horrible that a cadre of deputy-leveled officers could destroy the entire Milky Way in seconds. However, he also knew that the big bosses who had the power to destroy the galaxy were basically not free to harm humans. He knew this from Raven 12345. Just look at what the psycho does everyday.

While Hao Ren's imagination was running wild, a glowing blue vortex suddenly appeared in the room. Raven 12345 was back. It startled Hao Ren. However, she did not seem to realize that Hao Ren had just peeked at her data terminal. Raven 12345 was holding a crystal chip about the size of a matchbox in her hand. She passed it to Hao Ren and said, "Take it. Keep it well. It'll be useful in the future."

"What is this?" Hao Ren was a little immune to the variety of strange and high-tech gadgets issued by the Space Administration. He just asked out of curiosity and was not easily amazed or impressed by the high-tech devices like before.

"The key to the spacecraft and also your training card as a trainee pilot," replied Raven 12345. The tone of her voice sounded like she was lending someone half an eraser.

Hao Ren took the crystal chip. After he heard what she had said, he began to tremble like he was holding on to burning iron. He nearly dropped the seemingly fragile crystal to the ground. He could not help but be astounded by the chip on his hand and asked, "What did you say?! Spaceship?! "

"Yes, spaceship." Raven 12345 nodded as she spoke. "Why are you so surprised? There are countless universes under the Space Administration and the world I manage covers a range of 30 billion light-years. As the only certified God throughout 30 billion light-years, do you think that I would choose a spokesperson just to see him struggle on the earth? Do you think every God 's a miniaturist? "

Hao Ren's brain tingled as he held the crystal chip. He gulped and asked, "Let me figure it out ... You mean, I have to learn to pilot a spaceship? That's too big a task for me!"

"Don't worry. You still can't learn it for the time being. Your spaceship has not been approved yet. I just applied for an anti-theft lock..."

Hao Ren was speechless once again.

How did the her mind work? Was it a complete mess?

Hao Ren confirmed several times with Raven 12345 and finally felt ensured that he did not have to think about problems concerning the spaceship or outer space yet. The crazy Goddess had really just applied for a spaceship core lock. This was completely meaningless. It felt like ordering a security door before buying a house. What was the point? Was he supposed to poke the key into the keyhole every day to fulfill a psychological sense of accomplishment? According to Raven 12345, even the spaceship's core lock had not been sent over from the factory. She got the key directly from the workshop and did not know the purpose of giving it to Hao Ren this early…

Hao Ren totally could not communicate with this confusing and psychotic woman.

"Is there anything else?" Raven 12345 did not care about how her strange logic had confused others. She patted Hao Ren's shoulder like nothing ever happened and said," If there's nothing else, I will continue my work. My post got so many likes for the first time in my life..."

Hao Ren instinctively nodded and left the room. Luckily, he remembered the questions he wanted to ask before he stepped out of the door and said, "Wait! There's one last thing!"

Raven 12345 looked at Hao Ren curiously and he quickly seized the opportunity to ask the questions he almost forgot about. "I found something. The magic didn't work for me. The blood magic Vivian used to remove the curse didn't work on me. It was the same for her blood. And The Letta runes in England were…"

Hao Ren told her all about the unusual situations he encountered. He did not think that this immunity against the spells was also one of the Space Administration's welfare programs. If there was a benefit, Raven 12345 would have told him in advance. Although the Goddess was a psycho, it was unlikely of her to make a mistake on this issue. More importantly, the phenomenon first appeared before Hao Ren was physically enhanced. At that time he was still a thoroughly ordinary person. Therefore, the ability to be immune to spells must have been something strange.

After listening to Hao Ren's description, a rare expression of seriousness appeared on her face. She looked at Hao Ren up and down until it gave him the creeps. "Immune to the vampire's blood magic and blood perfusion? Immune to the influence of Letta runes? Your body can also directly cancel out the effect of Letta runes? Anything else?" asked Raven 12345.

Hao Ren tensed up when he saw Raven 12345's expression. He guessed that his situation was unusual. He did not expect his situation to make the careless Goddess look grim. He thought it over, firmly shook his head and said, "That's it. And I've never been in contact with any other sort of magic. Anyway, I'm immune to these types of magic. Do you think I was born immune to all kinds of magic? This isn't natural..."

Raven 12345 dropped a bunch of sparks on Hao Ren. "You think too much," she said.

Half a minute later, Hao Ren recovered from a temporary state of paralysis. His face was full of resentment. "How can you just do whatever you like to me... So, I'm not immune to magic, huh?"

"Not exactly, you will be immune to certain parts of the magic but, I'm not sure specifically which part... I need to investigate it," said Raven 12345 as she frowned. "This may also be a hereditary problem but, don't you worry. At least, it's harmless."

"Can you tell me more?" Hao Ren guessed that Raven 12345 knew something about it. He immediately moved close to her and said, "After all, this happened to me. At least I have the right to know."

"The problem is I'm not sure and now, I can only roughly guess that it could be related to the Plane of Dreams." Raven 12345 gazed into Hao Ren's eyes. She did not look like she was lying. "Certain changes normally happen to people who have entered the Plane of Dreams. However, most of them are dangerous mutations and those affected usually die within a few days. You on the other hand, are immune to certain magic after waking up from it… It's a special case. I have to investigate further before coming to a conclusion."

"It's related to the Plane of Dreams again?" Hao Ren was finally interested in that mysterious and dangerous place. "What the heck, how...?"

"Why don't you just go and have a look at it?" said Raven 12345. She smiled mysteriously. "You've only been there once so you're still far from knowing the truth of that space. I won't tell you too much. Just go and figure it out by yourself."

"Again, you're just telling me half of the story," Hao Ren muttered. "This is the only part of you that's similar to the deities in the fairy tales… Oh yes, there's one last thing! "

Hao Ren almost forgot the most important question and quickly blurted, "Can you solve my tenants' language problem? Vivian and Lily are unable to communicate with people in England. Y'zaks doesn't even speak human language. The big demon is now holding the primary one language book and learning pronunciation all day. The werewolf, vampire and demon rely on sign language and hieroglyphs to communicate with each other. If they keep going on like this, I really don't know how to face Hollywood and Qidian...

Raven 12345 immediately gave him a brilliant smile and said, "That's simple. I've discussed your special situation with my superior. I can provide your tenants with limited civilian device support. You can bring them over in two days. I'll use the Bioenhancement and Reconfiguration Chamber to install the language directly into their mind. You also need to install it, by the way. Then you won't have to go through the data terminal every time you need a translation."

Hao Ren thought for a moment and finally realized something was wrong. He then said, "Wait! You mean I have to lie in that coffin again? "

A smile blossomed on her face and she said, "Yes!"

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Chapter 73: What's Wrong with Lily?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hao Ren spent most of the day at Raven 12345's office. It was almost evening when he returned home. Just as he turned around the corner of the street, he saw Lily waiting there. She was standing on her toes at the door, looking towards Hao Ren's direction. She looked like a puppy that was left alone at home by its owner. Hao Ren had already gotten used to this scene.

When Lily saw Hao Ren, she quickly ran up to him excitedly and asked, "Landlord, landlord, you're finally back. What are we eating tonight?"

"Will you have some dignity as a werewolf, please?" Hao Ren sighed and passed a bag of food to Lily. "It's the big ribs you love. We need to cook them in a stew first tonight. Then you'll have rib noodles by noon tomorrow."

After half a month of getting along, Hao Ren had completely mastered Lily's temperament. The werewolf's preference was easy to guess. She was happy as long as she got to eat delicious food. Two of her favorite dishes were stewed ribs made by Vivian and noodles made by Hao Ren. Well, it was easy to understand why she loved ribs. They are meat but, noodles? Do werewolves even eat noodles?

No one could figure out how Lily turned into an omnivore. It was a good thing anyway. It was easier to keep omnivorous animals. If Lily needed to eat 20 kilograms of fresh meat every day like normal werewolves, the butcher would have probably not been able to cope even if Hao Ren could have afforded it...

Lily carried the ribs and happily ran back to the house to look for Vivian. Lily would only say something nice to Vivian for food. Where was her pride as a werewolf?

Hao Ren was speechless as he watched Lily follow Vivian into the kitchen. After locking the door, he turned around and saw a huge man sitting in the middle of the living room. The giant, Y'zaks was too obvious to ignore. With his height of 2.15 meters, he would have definitely attracted many unwanted attention no matter where he went. Not to mention that anti-social and demonic look of his. It was a big problem taking him out. Hao Ren went to market to buy some food with Y'zaks two days ago. However, not long after they left the house, an old lady had already called the police... So, you see…

Y'zaks did not notice that Hao Ren was back. He was sitting on the sofa, studying a Chinese dictionary attentively. The dictionary looked like a booklet in his hands. He could only pinch it with a few fingers to keep it in his hands. Looking at the serious look on his big and fierce face, Hao Ren found it really funny. Why was a good-tempered man born with such a fierce face?

"How's it going?" Hao Ren was curious. He moved closer to Y'zaks and took a look at what he was holding. Hao Ren found that the demon actually jotted down some crooked symbols in the dictionary, which looked like demon text. Hao Ren was moved by the demon's hardworking spirit but, also a little embarrassed at himself. The dictionary had been abandoned in his home for more than four years. He could not compare with Y'zaks in terms of hard work…

"Oh, you're back," Y'zaks looked at Hao Ren as he spoke in a low, muffled voice. Demon language sounded like a tape being played backwards. It had strange pronunciation and a vague tone. It was hard to discern and came up just behind Japanese English. Vivian and Lily did not learn a word during the past two days so, Hao Ren became the only one in the family who could communicate normally with Y'zaks. The giant demon knew that was the case too hence, he was happy to see Hao Ren. "Finally, I can chat with someone. Is everything okay? "

"Things are pretty good. Raven 12345 explained and cleared the confusion. How's your learning progress been these two days? "

"Chinese is so difficult." Y'zaks lost his spirit and threw the dictionary away. The giant demon could not seem to handle it. "I think it's more difficult than Elvish. I can't figure out these four words: pits, holes, caves and tiny holes even after learning them for two days. How exactly did you learn this language?"

This made Hao Ren sweat. "These four words are difficult enough to stop 80% of students from coming to China. Forget about them. I wanted to tell you that Raven 12345 has applied for something new from her superiors. It'll be able to help you solve your language problem. I'll bring you to meet her along with Vivian and Lily in two days. All of you need to do is undergo a 'small surgery', and then you'll have a translation package in your head."

Hao Ren observed Y'zaks' expression and wanted to see how the giant demon reacted to the 'small surgery'. He had impression that not many boss-leveled creatures were willing to let others touch them. However, Hao Ren was disappointed to see nothing from Y'zaks' face. He just nodded and said, "Oh yes, I should meet the Goddess to say hello too."

"Then, you have to be mentally prepared," Hao Ren kindly reminded. "Don't get angry when she wants you to lie down inside strange things..."

"I know what you mean." Y'zaks had a scary grin. "Something that looks like a coffin right?" Most of the coffins in the world look the same and most equipment made by the Xi Ling Celestials look like coffins as well. I've tried it before…"

Hao Ren was lost for words.

"Dinner's ready!"

As Hao Ren and Y'zaks were discussing the inspiration behind the coffin-like equipment in the Xi Ling Empire, Vivian's voice suddenly rang from the kitchen, pulling the two of men out of their gossip session.

Vivian carried an electric cooker and walked to the living room, followed by Lily who was wagging her tail happily. They were also followed by an arrogant-looking Rollie. The three of them looked proud of themselves. Before Hao Ren and Y'zaks sat down, Vivian pointed towards the direction of the kitchen and commanded, "Wash your hands!"

Y'zaks could not understand what Vivian said but he got the meaning from her hand gestures and direction of her finger. So, the big demon stood up and obediently ran to the kitchen to wash his hands, leaving Hao Ren amazed in the back.

Vivian would have a domineering vibe right after she finished the housework. She was not scared of the demon and dared to shout at him. Hao Ren thought that the vampire had probably figured out how to be a housewife. Well, it was good.

The evening meal was light and simple. It included rice, porridge, steamed bread and two vegetable dishes. This was quite enough for them and the portion was big enough to fill Lily and Y'zaks' big appetite. Vivian's cooking skills were unquestionable. As an ancient creature who had been wandering the world for centuries, she was familiar with all kinds of cooking methods on the planet. She even knew how to roast a saber-toothed tiger. If not because of its extinction, Hao Ren believed his daily meals would have be abundantly unprecedented.

Lily inserted her chopsticks into two steamed buns and chewed them quickly like eating candied haws on a stick. She scrunched up her nose and looked towards the kitchen. As she gnawed on the buns, she said, "I want to eat the ribs..."

"It's still cooking." Vivian was probably still in housewife mode. She spoke to Lily in a relaxed tone. "It has to cook in the stew for at least three hours. I have my own principles when it comes to rib stew."

Hao Ren rolled his eyes and thought, "Can she apply principles in the right place?"

Everyone was busy eating. While Hao Ren was about to look for the remote control to turn on the TV, a sudden crack broke the calm atmosphere in the living room.

It was Lily. She was holding a small plate in her hands. She had wanted to take more food but, the small plate was squeezed into pieces and the ceramic scattered all over the table.

Hao Ren was stunned whereas Vivian shouted at her. "Doggie, can't you have a little patience? You just had to wait and eat the meat tomorrow. Was it necessary to get angry over it? It's Landlord's bowl! "

"No… I didn't mean to!" Lily was frightened as well. She quickly cleaned up the broken dish on the table as she nervously glanced at Hao Ren. "Landlord, I didn't mean it. I don't know what's wrong with me. I can't control myself all of a sudden…"

Then, there was another crack.

Before Lily could finish her sentence, she crushed a bowl in her hand again.

Just as Vivian was about to scold Lily, Hao Ren realized that Lily was not behaving normally. He quickly waved his hand to stop Vivian and said, "Something isn't right. Look at Lily's eyes."

Lily was in her werewolf. She was usually in human form when at home. For no reason she had transformed into a werewolf and her golden eyes appeared brighter than usual. Her eyes were so bright that they were slightly glowing!

"Lily... your hands seem to be shaking." Hao Ren finally saw Lily's hands. He sensed that something bad was about to happen."

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Chapter 74: Losing Control

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lily's hands trembled but she did not realize it until the others pointed it out. Meanwhile, the ceramics in her hands had turned into powder. She seemed to have lost control.

"I...I don't know what's happening..." Lily waved her hands nervously. "I didn't do it..."

So many questions were on his mind but when he saw how nervous Lily was, he calmed himself down. "Just stay calm. Don't move— Vivian, you know what's going on, dont' you?"

Vivian noticed something—Lily's eyes were unusually bright. "She seemed to have entered into a state of excitement... Did you eat something you were not supposed to? An analeptic perhaps?"

Lily was almost in tears. "No. Just a bun in the afternoon. I was so run down just now because of hunger..."

Hao Ren had to stop eating midway. Not only were Lily's hands shaking, her body was quivering as if she had lost control of her muscles. Hao Ren stepped forward and held the werewolf maiden in his arms. "Let's move over to the sofa.. just relax."

As Hao Ren helped Lily over to the sofa, he noticed something once again—her muscles were stiff. He felt like he was holding a heavy, steel bar. Lily heard him but she shook her head. "I can't relax. If I do I'll lose control. Landlord, please stay away. I'm afraid I'll inadvertently fling you away... Oops! See what I mean!"

With just the slightest movement of her arm, Hao Ren was flung away like he was hit by a speeding lorry. His body flew and crashed into Vivian, who was standing nearby. It brought them both to the floor. Lily was terrified seeing what had just happened. She wanted to give them a hand but she was trembling uncontrollably. She stood where she was and slowly leaned herself on the sofa. While she placed her hand on the sofa's armrest to support herself, she accidentally punctured a large hole in it.

Hao Ren and Vivian got up from the floor awkwardly. Hao Ren's bio-enhanced body saved himself from a two-week vacation in the hospital. The duo carefully approached the werewolf maiden. Lily huddled herself on one end of the sofa. ,She lay still, afraid that even the slightest exhale from her nostrils would blow the house away.

"A sudden loss of control and mild hysteria. She's conscious though..." As the only one there who understood werewolves, Vivian offered her half-baked, medical expertise. She made sure Lily did not move a muscle before she went up-close to check on her eyes. "There is slight bleeding under the conjunctiva. Please open your mouth so that I can see your tongue... Are you sure you didn't eat anything weird?"

Lily shook her head crying out, "No, I swear. I don't know anything!"

The werewolf maiden became desperate. She had never been under the weather. In fact, she never even had bruises. She was a virgin in terms of sickness. Plus, her timid nature did not prepare her well. She was scared out of her wits. Hao Ren could only stand by. It was Vivian's show now. "Do you know how to treat a werewolf?" Hao Ren asked.

"Not a clue." Vivian shook her head in complete honesty.

"...But you checked her eyes and tongue like a pro."

Vivian looked away. "I realized that I don't know how to treat her after my attempt to diagnose!"

"Then, what should we do now?" Hao Ren spread out his hands. "Send her to the hospital?"

Vivian pointed her finger at Lily's ears and tail. "In your opinion, what kind of hospital should we send her to? What kind of doctor will be able to treat her?"

Hao Ren pondered for a long while before he felt a real need to send Lily to a veterinarian.

"Yes, a veterinarian!" Hao Ren smacked his head. "How could I not think of it! Aren't you a veterinarian yourself, Lily?"

The werewolf maiden slammed her hand on the sofa's backrest and said, "Yes, but I've only treated dogs. I'm a werewolf, mind you! I can't treat myself... Oops! I'm sorry, the sofa..."

Hao Ren took a quick glance at the broken backrest but, he had no time to be angry. He turned his hopeful eyes to the last person in the house. "Y'zaks, any idea?"

Y'zaks just shook his head. "There is no such creature as the 'werewolf' in the demonic abyss. And I'm not a doctor."

Hao Ren told Lily what Y'zaks had said. She instantly became dejected. "What am I supposed to do now? Could this be an incurable disease? Battie, do you know what werewolves do when they're sick? You've seen enough werewolves to be able to tell, right?"

"Erm..." Vivian had an odd expression on her face. "When werewolves are sick they'll normally have a feast."

Everyone was speechless.

"Don't talk like it doesn't concern you!" Lily exploded in anger and her tail puffed up. "This is all your fault! Ever since you yanked that red moon out, I've been having a bad feeling. Today―"

"Wait a second!" Hao Ren chimed in all of a sudden. "Did you just say red moon? What red moon?"

"It happened the day we first met the giant, "Lily said as she compressed her lips. "Since Battie conjured up that strangely huge, red moon, I've been feeling awful for days. It's all Battie's fault."

By then, Hao Ren had also recalled it in his memory; he could never forget the majestic scene where the demonic sea of fire and blood-red moon faced off in the sky. However, he did not give it much thought then. He only felt that being as low-key as she was, Vivian had pulled off something worthwhile during her confrontation with Y'zaks, the demon. As for the red moon... he had no idea what to make of it.

Lily however, reacted to the red moon.

"Does it really have something to do with the moon?" Hao Ren looked at Vivian, expecting her to retort. Instead, she nodded hesitantly. "I'm afraid it seems so... The blood moon has influence over many creatures. I used it once a long time ago and the blood moon almost caused the entire werewolf tribe to go crazy. That night, I had used restraint. Doggie should only be experiencing some discomfort at the most and there shouldn't be any aftereffect. She seemed just fine the last couple of days. The effects should have been gone as soon as the blood moon disappeared."

"Hey, we could got to Raven 12345 for answers!" Just when every body was at a loss of what to do, the idea of outside help crossed Hao Ren's mind. "She's the one who asked me to look after all of you. So it's only natural that I should refer to her about what's happening here. Vivian, I need your help. We'll take Lily to Raven now..."

"No, not now. Not until daybreak." Vivian stopped Hao Ren as she pointed her finger towards the window. "Four days to go before full moon. I'm afraid if we take her out under the moon, her condition would worsen. Or, she could go on a rampage because the moon still affects her."

"So, the problem now is how do we make it through the night." Hao Ren nodded as his eyes rested on Lily again. Her shivers had stopped but her hands were still shaking severely. A golden glow emanated from Lily's muddy eyes. The glow made everyone nervous. "Lily, are you awake?"

The werewolf maiden nodded lightly. "I'm okay."

Nonetheless, Hao Ren was still worried. So he asked, "One thousand nine hundred and ninety nine plus one hundred equals—?"

"Two thousand."

"Not good... Her mind's still blurry!"

Vivian smacked Hao Ren on the shoulder. "Bullshit! She gets it wrong all the time. That's just how she is!"

Despite their best efforts, Vivian and Hao Ren arrived at nothing. At last, Y'zaks broke the silence and came up with an idea. "I think first of all, we need to stop her from moving. She's lost control of herself. Her destructive movements could injure others. Maybe, we can tie her up with a rope or chain?"

"Save your trouble." Hao Ren sighed. "She can snap a chain the size of a bowl with one hand. She has no special skills. Her only advantage is her incredible, brute strength."

Y'zaks spread his arms. "Then, knock her out."

"Not even a 10-ton rock could scratch her one bit." Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks. "Maybe you could."

Y'zaks waved his hands vehemently. "No, I'm not doing it. It's a matter of principle."

Hao Ren almost jumped on him. "Is that necessary? I mean you're a demon. You have no moral obligation."

"I'll do it myself..." Lily glanced at them with a miserable look on her face as Hao Ren told her what Y'zaks had suggested. She wanted to do the 'honors' herself but when she raised her hand above her head, she hesitated. "Will I die if I hit myself?"

"If you can't do it, I will." Vivian gestured with her hands. "But I guess it's going to take a while before you pass out..."

Before Vivian finished her sentence, she heard a thud—Lily had hit herself on the head and passed out.

Hao Ren stared at the werewolf maiden in astonishment. "Actually, I wanted to say... the MDT mentioned it has an idea on how to keep Lily's condition under control."

Vivian laughed out loud. "...Wow, haha. Let's finish out dinner..."

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