Chapter 35

As the plane took off, Lily and Vivian seemed to have switched roles.

Usually at home, Lily was the one who was always full of energy, the lively werewolf girl with an overly curious mind, always eager to study anything she came across, even a stone picked up from the street, which she would put in her mouth to test its hardness if no one was around. In contrast, Vivian was much more mature and composed, despite her constant bad luck, the vampire girl always maintained the special pride and dignity of her "bloodline," appearing far more stable than Lily.

But now their behavior was completely reversed: Lily was lying leisurely on the wide first-class seat, waiting for her meal, while skillfully searching for interesting programs on the LCD TV beside her. Vivian, on the other hand, was completely excited, the vampire girl pressing her face against the plane's window, mouth open, watching the clouds rush by outside. After a long while, she exclaimed, "Oh, we really took off! And we can fly this high?"

Embarrassingly, this was also Hao Ren's first time on a plane, and he could understand Vivian's reaction, but he still couldn't help but say, "Don't you usually fly? Is it really that surprising?"

"Feeling when you fly yourself is different!" Vivian said confidently, "And I usually don't fly this high. Flying too high can get you struck by lightning, and the low temperature and high-altitude clouds are very dangerous. Once, I flew too high to study the stars and ended up frozen into a big ice block and fell down—almost getting discovered by a demon hunter. Since then, I rarely fly above a thousand meters."

Hao Ren clicked his tongue, quite surprised, "So you traveled the world by flying low? Weren't you afraid of being shot down by arrows?"

"When traveling the world? Sometimes I fly, sometimes I walk. Anyway, I'm stronger than humans, and time isn't an issue. Even walking around the Eurasian continent isn't difficult," Vivian said proudly, "And I don't always avoid flying high. When encountering demon hunters, I still need to hide in the clouds. Demon hunters rarely have the ability to deal with high-altitude targets. By the way, speaking of arrows, I'm not afraid of them. The longbowmen of Wales can't hit me. Do you think their arrows can fly very far when shot into the sky? I was accidentally hit by an anti-aircraft gun during World War II, though..."

Hao Ren was speechless, and Vivian patted her chest with lingering fear, "Wow, your human ability to develop dangerous things is amazing. Not long ago, you were throwing stones at each other and fighting with swords and spears, and you had to pray to the sky for a headache or fever. But in a blink, you can launch several tons of steel into the sky. I thought anti-aircraft guns were just a new type of catapult. One shot hit me in the face—if I hadn't turned into bats in time, I might have become the most bizarrely killed bloodline in the world."

This being her first time on a plane, the poor vampire Vivian seemed a bit overexcited, and these embarrassing secrets that shouldn't be casually mentioned kept spilling out. At first, Hao Ren could still smile and chat with her, but later he could only stare with wide eyes: some things were completely beyond his understanding, and he didn't even know how to react!

When Vivian mentioned that one of her old acquaintances was killed by a meteor while flying over North America, Hao Ren decided to change the subject and turned to Lily, "You look pretty comfortable. Do you often fly?"

The werewolf girl lazily lifted her head and smiled, "I've ridden in early Stearman aircraft."

Hao Ren was taken aback, "What's that?"

Vivian straightened up, trembling, "From the Republic of China era... How rich were you back then?!"

"I couldn't afford plane tickets in the Republic of China era," Lily waved her hand, "But I could sneak into the machine compartment and the luggage rack. For the last part, I even hung outside the plane. Security back then wasn't as advanced as it is now, and no one checked these areas thoroughly. With my skills, it was easy to avoid being seen by ordinary people. The hardest part was landing, where I had to jump down early. I wouldn't die, but it was quite scary."

Hao Ren immediately exclaimed, "No kidding, a normal person would have died halfway through such a ride!"

Lily stuck out her tongue, "But that's how I gained experience. So, this bat is too rigid sometimes, not as smart as me. You should learn to use your physical abilities better."

Vivian turned her face away, "I don't think it's something to be proud of to hang outside a plane to avoid paying."

Despite her words, she couldn't help but discuss with Lily how to safely hang on to human transportation. Lily taught Vivian how to sneak into the luggage compartment, and Vivian taught Lily how to avoid anti-aircraft guns. It was all nonsense to Hao Ren, but these two rivals seemed to have reached a temporary truce in this bizarre area: they were both quite interested in such ridiculous matters.

Looking at the cheerful Lily, Hao Ren thought this werewolf girl was probably much more capable than she appeared. Hanging outside a plane for half of China wasn't scary; what was scary was that she had the nerve to do it in the Republic of China era. How many shocking experiences did this seemingly silly girl have? Hao Ren thought about modern Chinese history and quickly stopped.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. This strange trio flew for eleven hours and finally arrived at their destination, Heathrow Airport in London, on a cool, breezy morning.

Hao Ren dragged the almost sleeping Lily and the energetic Vivian out of the terminal, deeply inhaling the cold air of a foreign land, and slowly exhaled: it seemed no different from the air back home...

Vivian looked up at the sky. It was early morning, and the sky was not yet fully bright. A weak sun was slowly spreading from the horizon, and a thin mist covered the sky, making the already dim light even darker. The cold morning wind, the dim sun through the mist, and the foreign streets might make ordinary people feel depressed, but it suited the vampire girl, who nodded in satisfaction, "This sunlight is just right, good for the skin—these past few days have been tough on me. Have you ever seen a bloodline out in the sun all day?"

Hao Ren gave her a white eye, "No kidding, have you ever seen a bloodline looking for a job all day?"

Vivian awkwardly scratched her face and tried to change the subject, "Um... speaking of which, the scenery here seems a bit unfamiliar, not like the England I remember."

Lily, still half-asleep, couldn't help but comment, "You couldn't even afford a plane ticket before, how could you know the way to the airport!"

Hao Ren suddenly felt a sense of impending danger, and Vivian's next words confirmed his feeling, "That's not what I meant. I mean... um, I remember this place should be wasteland or rocky beaches... if my bloodline's sense of direction is correct."

Hao Ren almost choked, finally understanding the strange feeling he had since they left, "When was the last time you came to England?!"

Vivian thought for a long time, her head slowly lowering, "I remember there was a king called Lionheart or something fighting..."

Hao Ren's mouth nearly dropped open, and he almost fell on his butt: That was 1190 AD!

It seemed Hao Ren's world history was pretty good.

"How can you be so silly sometimes?" Hao Ren rubbed his chin, looking at Vivian in disbelief. He never thought someone could be so clueless—such a person should be Lily.

"I've lived for so long, can't I make a few mistakes in some details?" Vivian tried to sound authoritative but ended up lowering her head, "You know I'm a bit forgetful."

"What do we do now?" Hao Ren felt a bit lost. If it were someone who had traveled a lot, it might be easier, but Hao Ren was a homebody who had never been far from home. Now, his only translator and guide was as lost as he was, and his task was to find a client in a small, unnamed village in a foreign country, whose name and appearance were unknown. This first mission was indeed quite challenging.

Vivian gritted her teeth, "It's fine, at least I can speak the language, right? That's better than you."

Hao Ren thought about it; although something still seemed off, he could only nod.