Chapter 12

Hao Ren put down the phone and stood there, dazed and lost in thought.

If it were the old him, he would have dismissed the zero-second call and the strange number as a malfunction of his phone, and then gone about his business without a second thought. But now, he was in a highly sensitive state.

Looking at the two unconventional tenants sitting in the living room, one of whom was secretly competing and the other eagerly awaiting food, he realized that his life had completely deviated from the norm. Things that were once considered mere dinner conversation and urban legends might be real, certain mythological stories might be real, and even some brainchild works that only appeared in movies... might also be real.

Hao Ren was already very sensitive, so sensitive that even an extra meow from his cat, named "Gun," would be seen as an omen. So when he recalled the irregular phone number, he felt a chill run down his spine. More importantly, he remembered that he had never submitted a resume to any import-export company!

Yes, he had submitted many resumes, for all sorts of jobs, including two for male host positions and one for a pet psychologist (heaven knows what that job was), but he definitely hadn't submitted a resume to any import-export company! Hao Ren was well aware of his educational background and expertise. He was the kind of person who needed a calculator to buy a bunch of celery, so how could he possibly work at a trade company? Was he going to sell himself by the pound?

In Hao Ren's mind, an import-export company was no different from a small supermarket at the end of the alley. That was the extent of his understanding.

"Landlord? Landlord, you're spacing out!" Lili's alarmed voice came from beside him, and Hao Ren quickly snapped back to reality. He nodded at the two unconventional beings: "Oh, an employer notified me to come for an interview this afternoon..."

"Landlord, don't worry, I'll watch the house for you!" Lili happily raised her paw and waved, as if something good had happened. "I'm the best at watching the house, I promise nothing will be lost!"

"Dog-like statement," Vivian couldn't help but mock her rival, and her remarks always hit the mark. But Hao Ren still wanted to say: "You're so down and out, why are you still acting so high and mighty? Do you even deserve to call yourself a vampire?"

Lili glared at Vivian but then shook her head, not caring. Her stomach growled again, which quickly defused her anger and put her in a weakened state. She lay on the table, weakly looking at Hao Ren: "Landlord, make food quickly. After eating, I'll watch the house for you..."

Hao Ren was a bit stunned: had he found two tenants or two ancestors? In all his years as a landlord, he had never seen tenants get so familiar!

But he quickly attributed it to cultural differences and shrugged it off. After all, these two weren't ordinary beings, and to ensure a peaceful life, he needed to build up their goodwill—this way, at least when Lili and Vivian fought again, he could have the confidence to scold them, as their landlord and caretaker.

Hao Ren finally managed to feed the two non-human beings and, in the process, confirmed that Vivian indeed ate normal human food, which finally put his mind at ease. By the time everything was settled, it was already eleven o'clock, so lunch could be skipped. The vampire and the werewolf could just snack on something until evening. Considering that Vivian was now penniless and Lili would never share her food (as is typical of canines), Hao Ren specifically went out to buy a box of cookies for Vivian, which almost made the poor vampire girl cry with gratitude... What a situation!

Due to the vampire's habits, Vivian needed to sleep most of the day, so after eating, she went upstairs to tidy up and rest. Lili, on the other hand, was most energetic during the day and would stay downstairs to guard the house. The two were finally separated due to their respective species' habits, and Hao Ren could temporarily rest assured that they wouldn't tear the house apart while he was away. This allowed him to go to the address provided by the mysterious woman for the "interview" with some peace of mind.

Indeed, despite his doubts, Hao Ren decided to go and see what was going on. After all, what was coming couldn't be avoided. If the woman was related to the "unusual" beings he had encountered in the past two days... he couldn't avoid it. Just looking at the combat abilities of Vivian and Lili, he knew this wasn't a realm that ordinary people could handle—let alone with his limited brainpower.

Of course, he had considered taking Lili with him, but decided against it. For one, he had only known Lili for two days, and the werewolf girl was a bit naive... okay, she was a bit silly, but being silly wasn't a reason to take advantage of her. Dragging her into dangerous situations just because of a bit of trust was unreasonable (letting her stay at home to guard against vampire attacks was a necessity). Secondly, Hao Ren was a grown man, and to be so nervous that he needed a girl as a bodyguard for an interview... that would be embarrassing.

So he decided to go and see what was happening, bracing himself.

While waiting for the bus at the bus stop, he couldn't help but think about Lili and Vivian's... "unusual" forms, muttering to himself: "Is it really okay to leave them at home?"

To be honest, Hao Ren had been a landlord for several years and had seen all kinds of tenants. His large house had housed people from all walks of life. As a landlord, the most important thing was to determine if the tenants were reliable, not dangerous, and not thieves or fraudsters—examples of renting a house and ending up with thieves and significant losses were not uncommon. Hao Ren didn't need to worry about the two superwomen being the latter because he knew... the superwomen were far more dangerous!

Was it a mistake to leave them at home? Would he come back to a pile of rubble? Would he see over two hundred armed SWAT officers? Would he see a convoy from the Chinese Academy of Sciences filling the southern suburbs? Would he see two Americans in black suits and sunglasses with a pen, pressing it against him?

With these unrealistic thoughts, he got on the bus and headed to a desolate place not far from the southern suburbs.

The address given by the mysterious woman was a place Hao Ren had heard of but never visited. It was very remote, far from the city, and could be considered a small village outside the city. There was no direct bus from the city, and even in the already remote southern suburbs, only one dilapidated bus ran hourly.

This place was called Wangbatuozi.

Clearly, this was also a peculiar name, and the author hopes it won't be censored for its crude language—because this place was really called Wangbatuozi.

Hao Ren rode the dilapidated, drafty bus for half an hour, with no more than three passengers on board at any time. He even wondered if the driver's cynical face was to match the bus's miserable condition. But in the end, he was safely delivered to his destination and dropped off in a place that looked no different from the wilderness he had passed through.

The bus drove away, making a clanging noise, just like Hao Ren's current mood: surging with emotion, he wanted to howl to the sky—this was clearly a scam! The woman on the phone hadn't even bothered to plan her scam!

From the highway, a narrow path led down to Wangbatuozi. Standing on the high ground by the road, Hao Ren could clearly see everything. It was a small, primitive village with only a few dozen households, and almost half of the houses were dilapidated mud huts. The village's buildings looked disordered and dated, and the largest building was a small brick house in the center, roughly the same size as Hao Ren's home...

The woman on the phone had lured him there under the guise of an "import-export company."

How could anyone with a brain believe that!?

But Hao Ren was still lured there.

(Yes, from now on, there will be two updates... apparently, this helps new books gain popularity. For the sake of the two updates, please give more recommendations, or at least some clicks or publicity...)