Chapter 43

The plump uncle on TV was about forty or fifty years old, just as Hao Ren had guessed, he was a local, living at the edge of Brusar Town, the owner of a small inn called "Angus's Cottage." His name was Angus, and he was the one who first discovered the haunted castle and spread the news. He looked honest with a touch of shrewdness typical of a businessman.

The interview continued, and Hao Ren was completely engrossed in the news, not even noticing when Lily scratched him with her claws: the werewolf girl couldn't understand a word and was gradually becoming agitated.

"… That day, I was tidying up a room on the second floor. It was evening," Angus appeared rosy-faced in front of the camera, unusually excited despite telling a ghost story. The recent haunting had made his small inn famous, which was a good thing for him. "My inn is on the edge of town, 'Angus's Cottage.' It's the first thing you see when you come from the highway. The row of windows at the back faces the old castle, but it's quite far away, and you usually can't see the stones clearly with the naked eye. But that night, I saw a huge fire from behind the windows! There's no forest or houses there, just a pile of stones. I didn't know what was burning, but I still called 999…"

"Did many people see that fire?" the female host asked, trying to keep Mr. Angus from straying too far off-topic—obviously, he wanted to stay on camera longer and was talking endlessly.

"Yes, many people. I saw many windows in town facing the castle light up," Angus nodded. "And the next day, it was confirmed that many people saw the fire. But it only 'burned' for about ten minutes, then it suddenly disappeared. The forest fire department came up empty-handed. They said there was only a pile of dry, cold stones, but I'm sure I didn't make a false report. I'm an honest businessman, and 'Angus's Cottage' has been running for years on honesty…"

"Did you come here to check the situation yourself later?" the female host quickly brought the topic back.

"Yes, I came here many times after that, especially at night," Angus finally showed a bit of fear on his face. "Then I encountered those strange things. Armored soldiers walked boldly in front of my car's headlights, there were strange voices shouting, the car mysteriously stalled, and the car radio picked up voices with very strange accents… It was terrifying."

The female host put the microphone away and faced the camera: "The 'haunted story' of Brusar is spreading more and more, attracting more and more paranormal enthusiasts and adventurers to this town. Experts in electromagnetism, geology, and other fields are also showing interest…"

Hao Ren had lost interest in what was being said after that. It was mostly about encouraging people to believe in science while talking about the ghostly events. He turned off the TV and sat there, chin in hand, deep in thought.

Lily finally went into a full frenzy, jumping onto the sofa and scratching Hao Ren's shoulder: "Landlord, landlord, what did the TV say just now?"

"Our 'new friend'…" Hao Ren's tone was heavy. "There's a high chance it's a ghost. Remember the haunted castle incident Mr. Nan Gong mentioned? The TV was talking about that. If it's not a local scam to attract tourists, it must be related to the 'newcomer' Raven 12345 sent. Tsk, tsk, why did such a troublesome guy show up?"

Vivian didn't understand what the TV was saying either, but she could see the situation: "Wait, if that's the case… there should be a lot of people around the Joffrey Castle now! And everyone is looking for ghosts in that area?!"

"Exactly, it's a big problem," Hao Ren sighed. "I hate drawing attention. Who knows if the new guy will be as easy to handle as you… I mean, understanding the bigger picture. If it's a reckless newcomer, it'll definitely be a show."

Lily squatted on the sofa, tilting her head in thought for a long time, then suddenly slapped her paw: "I'm sleepy, I'm going to bed."

With that, the werewolf girl walked into her room, leaving Hao Ren and Vivian staring in disbelief. The time difference still hadn't adjusted for her, and it was already her bedtime despite the bright daylight outside.

"I'm a bit sleepy too," the drowsiness was contagious. Seeing Lily go to bed, Hao Ren felt the fatigue from the journey. "I'll go back to my room and sleep for a while. Aren't you sleepy?"

"I have a different schedule from you," Vivian shrugged. "And my biological clock is already a mess from trying to match yours. I'm not sleepy right now."

"Alright, I'll go to sleep. If I'm still out by evening, wake me up for dinner. Lily probably won't wake up; she sleeps like a log—bring her some food up." Hao Ren stretched and walked to his room, leaving Vivian alone in the living room, feeling deeply sad: traveling was tough, and tonight, the noble vampire would have to share a room with a big dog…

Hao Ren slept until around eight or nine in the evening. Vivian said she didn't want to disturb him because he was sleeping so soundly, and Lily, as Hao Ren had predicted, slept soundly without any intention of adjusting to the time difference. Even when Vivian walked around her, she didn't react.

Since they had things to do early the next morning, Hao Ren and Vivian went to the restaurant downstairs for a quick meal and returned to their rooms. Lily was still sleeping soundly, not even planning to eat. Hao Ren left some convenient food on the small table by her bed and went back to his room to rest, determined to adjust to the time difference by sleeping as much as possible. Vivian, whose vampire schedule was already different from humans and had been further disrupted by staying at Hao Ren's house, only felt sleepy in the middle of the night—by then, the clever reader might have guessed what happened: Lily woke up…

A normal person, a werewolf who didn't plan to adjust to the time difference, and a vampire with a completely disrupted biological clock—this magical trio finally clashed in their schedules in this foreign land eight time zones away. When Hao Ren and Vivian were awake, Lily was sleeping. When Vivian finally felt sleepy, Lily was wide awake. And for two-thirds of Hao Ren's sleeping time, Vivian was wide awake. When Vivian and Lily were both awake, Hao Ren was still asleep. Don't try to figure out the exact schedule of their waking hours; it's so chaotic that even they couldn't sort it out! Their sleeping times were interlocked in a two-thirds, three-quarters pattern, and whenever one of them was sleeping, at least one of the others was wandering around the house like a ghost…

The next morning, Hao Ren emerged from his room, looking disheveled, and met Vivian, who had bloodshot eyes. The vampire girl immediately complained to Hao Ren: "Hao Ren! I will never sleep in the same room with that big dog again! She jumped up in the middle of the night, shouting for breakfast, and walked around my bed for two hours in the dark!"

Hao Ren, who had the best sleep quality among the three, had slept for nearly twelve hours in total, almost in a coma. He looked at Vivian with sleepy eyes: "Um… I felt the room was particularly cold last night, even with the air conditioning off. Do you know why?"

Vivian blushed: "Um, I couldn't sleep in the first half of the night, so I did two sets of slimming exercises in the living room. Maybe I didn't notice."

Hao Ren was suddenly chilled to the bone, realizing how terrifying the night had been: in the first half of the night, a vampire silently did fitness exercises in the living room, and in the second half, a werewolf patrolled the room for two hours in the dark!

The events of the night were just one production team away from a ghost story!