Chapter 47

"Listen, I found something," Vivian said, lightly snapping her fingers. Then Hao Ren saw a thin mist of black fog rise from the corner of the room. The black fog quickly condensed into several small bats, which flew around Vivian's shoulders.

Hao Ren had been living with the two female superheroes for some time and was no longer surprised by such supernatural things, especially Lily's tail and Vivian's bats, which he was quite familiar with. At that moment, he casually played with a bat that had flown in front of him, studying the differences between these bats and those in nature while curiously asking, "What did you find?"

"Hey, don't move around. These bats are my avatars, and we share senses," Vivian waved her hand to push Hao Ren's hand away, then looked in a certain direction outside the window, "I sent a few bats to the old castle, and I did find something abnormal—there's the smell of the undead, at least a few hundred years old, and there are quite a few of them."

Hao Ren immediately felt a chill, though he had been well-prepared, even prepared for the possibility that his new tenant would be an undead. But hearing this news still made him feel a bit cold: "Really? Quite a few? Raven 12345 said there was only one... Should we pick one from among them?"

"Don't talk about that yet. The undead aura I found is different from the ghost stories we heard outside," Vivian shook her head, "The undead aura in the castle is suppressed underground. My bats only noticed it when they entered a collapsed tunnel. Although I haven't found the source or the entrance underground, I can confirm that the suppression environment is still intact. In theory... there shouldn't be any ghosts on the surface yet."

Hao Ren thought for a moment and quickly figured out what was wrong: "So, there are indeed ghosts in the castle, but they are all suppressed. Logically, there shouldn't be any ghost incidents around the castle? Then what about the ghost reports from the locals around here..."

"It's hard to say. If the undead is powerful enough, it can influence ordinary people within a certain range even while sealed, making them see illusions or believe false memories. But such powerful undead hasn't appeared for many years... They should have been cleared out by the demon hunters long ago."

Hao Ren grimaced and spread his hands: "What a mess. I'm just a normal person, and I'm getting involved in this."

Just as he was about to say more, he suddenly noticed a change in Vivian's expression and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nangong seems to be preparing to go out," Vivian frowned, "I still have a bat outside his window, and I saw him packing that box of 'tools'... He's leaving!"

"So late?" Hao Ren was surprised, "He's really dedicated. He just got here and is already going out to 'work.' Maybe this demon hunter has some real skills?"

Previously, Hao Ren thought Nangong was probably a ghost-chasing fraud, and even if he knew some demon hunter knowledge, he wasn't a true professional (his showy attitude didn't seem professional). But he didn't expect Nangong to go out to work right after arriving, despite the fatigue from the journey. Such dedication was not typical of a fraud.

Vivian didn't say anything but immediately ran to the window and gestured for Hao Ren to come over: "Come and see, he's already out. I'm curious how he plans to get to the castle. The castle is dozens of kilometers away, and he's a stranger here with no car. At this hour, it's impossible to find a taxi willing to go to such a remote area—does he really know some demon hunter secrets?"

Hao Ren and Vivian leaned on the windowsill together and saw Nangong already at the hotel entrance, standing there as if in a daze. He wasn't carrying his large suitcase but a smaller black box, still dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, looking like a regular business traveler. As Vivian said, Nangong was also a stranger here with no convenient transportation. How did he plan to get to the castle dozens of kilometers away in the middle of the night?

"If he's a real demon hunter, traveling at over 100 kilometers per hour is very simple, and some can even fly short distances or teleport," Vivian frowned, "He's making strange gestures in a certain direction. Does he really know secret techniques?"

Hao Ren's mind was filled with specialized terms like 'shrinking the earth to an inch,' 'riding the wind,' 'wolf spirit protection,' and 'ancestral soul.' In his mind, Nangong was about to step on a cloud and rise into the air—any magical array appearing around the small hotel wouldn't surprise him. But the next moment, he saw a car come around from behind the hotel, driven by the fat hotel owner, Angus. Nangong nodded to Angus and got into the car. Then, an Indian man dressed as a monk and a European man dressed like Batman also got into the car. Hao Ren clearly saw them all take out their wallets to chip in...

Vivian awkwardly opened her mouth: "Uh, carpooling... It seems the hotel owner has started a new business."

Hao Ren: "...I was overthinking it."

It seemed the haunted castle nearby had attracted many strange people, even foreigners. He wondered how these paranormal enthusiasts from around the world had such high motivation, always keeping an eye on where ghosts appeared on Earth.

After Angus drove the three ghost hunters from different countries away, Vivian poked Hao Ren's arm: "Let's follow them. We'll act tonight."

Hao Ren was confused: "Didn't you say we should stay as far away from the demon hunters as possible and avoid meeting Nangong?"

"I've changed my mind. What if some of these ghost hunters have real skills and find the new tenant before us? And more people will come in the future. We can't wait for this trend to die down on its own; it could take a long time, and the longer it takes, the more unpredictable things become."

Hao Ren found her reasoning logical but glanced at the door with some concern: "I'm well-rested and can stay up tonight, but we have a sleeping beauty—Lily won't wake up until midnight. Should we take her?"

Vivian checked her watch: "No problem, she's almost awake. We can barely wake her up now. She has a special ability to follow us while sleeping, and she'll be fully awake when we reach the castle. It's perfect."

Hao Ren had no more questions and followed Vivian to Lily's room. Sure enough, the wolf girl was restlessly moving on the bed, clearly in the final stages of waking up. She was still wearing her regular clothes, not changing for sleep—Vivian had brought her up, and the vampire girl certainly hadn't been kind enough to change her clothes, saving Hao Ren the trouble.

Although he did hope to see the wolf girl in a revealing nightgown, like in the mainstream plot, that was impossible.

"Look, the table leg," Vivian pointed to the table beside the bed. Hao Ren's eyes twitched as he saw the wooden leg gnawed like a sugar-coated hawthorn, with a thick layer of sawdust on the floor nearby, and wood chips still on Lily's lips...

There was no doubt that Lily had been dreaming about eating big bones at home.

"Hey, big dog, get up and work!" Vivian roughly pushed Lily off the bed. She fell to the ground with a thud and finally opened her eyes groggily, seeing Hao Ren and saying, "Oh, landlord, breakfast time?"

"Breakfast your head!" Vivian pulled Lily up, "Get ready to go. We're heading to the castle. You're not fully awake, but just follow us. We'll explain the details when you're fully awake."

Lily mumbled in agreement, closed her eyes, and stood up, entering her scent-following mode. Before completely falling asleep, she said, "Landlord, I dreamed you made me ribs. They were so good~"

Hao Ren: "..."

A moment later, the three of them left the small hotel unnoticed. With Vivian's black fog as cover, ordinary people couldn't detect their movements. Since the hotel was on the edge of town, they quickly left the town and faced the vast wilderness. Hao Ren suddenly realized a problem: "They carpool... What about us?"

Suddenly, a pair of giant bat wings spread out behind Vivian, and she smiled brightly: "I'll fly with you, and the big dog can run below!"