Chapter 48 of 100
Chapter 48
11 min read2,673 words
Under the hazy silver moon, the night was thick, and the vast, desolate wilderness was silent and empty, with only the sound of flapping wings coming from the high sky. A young vampire girl with bat wings flew swiftly through the air. The moonlight fell on Vivian, creating a blurry shadow that completely concealed the vampire's aura. She was very cautious, using the power of the moon to cover her presence, unsure if the supposedly haunted ancient castle would attract real demon hunters.
Hao Ren was carried under Vivian's armpit, feeling very excited: "At first, when you said you would carry me, I refused. You can't just say 'fly' and I'll fly. At least you should let me get used to it. I didn't want to be hanging there when..."
Vivian's voice came from above: "Speak in human language."
"…Give me some mental preparation, sister! You brought me so high without my consent, a human heart can't take it!"
"Didn't you manage to handle it?" Vivian glanced down at Hao Ren, who she had pulled up into the sky without waiting for his reaction. She showed no sign of regret, "Just enjoy it. Ordinary people don't get this privilege. Do you think we vampires like carrying people? It's heavy and troublesome."
Hao Ren remained silent, feeling a bit embarrassed about being carried by a girl, but since there was no one else around, he decided to treat it as a new experience. He was a bit nervous at first, fearing that the unreliable vampire might run out of strength and let go, but now it was clear that Vivian, though not as strong as Lily, could easily carry an adult for tens of kilometers.
Hao Ren looked down at the ground, which was quite far below. With the help of the moonlight, he could still see the situation below. On the wilderness covered with broken stones and yellow soil, a small silver figure was following directly below him. It was Lily, who was running to keep up. To match Vivian's flying speed, Lily had transformed into her wolf form and was running on all fours, with her silver tail and long hair trailing behind.
Amazingly, the young wolf girl was still sleeping—she had followed with her eyes closed. Even Vivian was amazed by this ditz's tracking ability. Lily could follow a flying vampire in the sky just by her sense of smell while sleeping, proving that despite her ditziness, she had a surprising "hunting" talent. If she were more motivated, her tracking skills would likely make her one of the best hunters among the werewolves.
The three of them traveled in this magical way to the ancient Joford Castle, which was dozens of kilometers away. Along the way, they avoided major roads and stuck to desolate areas. Vivian also kept a bat clone following Angus's car from a distance to monitor the movements of the people in the car. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and the people in the car did not notice the high-profile travel of the werewolf and the vampire, including the boastful Mr. Nan Gong, who didn't even look out the window.
"That's the ancient Joford Castle," Vivian's voice suddenly came from above after flying for an unknown amount of time. Hao Ren looked up and saw a pile of rubble on a high ground ahead, the castle completely collapsed and unrecognizable, but the scale of the stone pile still showed its former glory. "Let's land here."
Vivian landed steadily with Hao Ren, who quickly hopped around to loosen up his stiff limbs. Despite it being summer, being in the high sky for over an hour in the night wind was not very comfortable, and Hao Ren felt he would freeze if he stayed much longer. As he rubbed his sore arms and prepared to head to the castle, a silver figure suddenly rushed past him like a gust of wind, stirring up grass and dust.
Hao Ren and Vivian watched in shock as the white figure sprinted several hundred meters in the blink of an eye and crashed into a large rock in the distance...
A loud "boom" echoed as the several-meter-tall, solid rock shattered as if hit by a cannon. A muffled cry of pain from Lily could be heard. Hao Ren quickly ran over and, in the gradually dissipating dust, saw the wolf girl rolling on the ground, rubbing her head. Well, Lily was finally fully awake, though not naturally.
Vivian was speechless: "That head... could be used to apply for a job as a pneumatic hammer at a quarry! Werewolves' heads are indeed full of muscles..."
Lily, looking very disheveled, got up from the ground. One of her usually perky ears was drooping, apparently hurt from the collision. Her body was covered in dirt and grass, and when she shook her head, pebbles fell off. However, her spirit was high, and she wiped her face and started shaking Hao Ren's arm: "Landlord, landlord, see, I can keep up—she said she flies fast, but she's not much faster than me!"
Vivian shook her head: "Of course, I'm carrying someone. Next time, you carry the landlord, and I'll fly in the sky. Let's see who's faster."
"Stop fooling around, let's get to business," Hao Ren pressed his hands down to calm the two superwomen. He saw some lights moving from a small hill in the distance and quickly pulled Lily and Vivian away, "Let's leave this place. The noise from Lily's head collision was too loud and seems to have attracted people."
The three quickly left the chaotic "landing site" under the cover of night and moved to another small hill nearby, which was closer to the castle ruins and offered a better view of the surrounding area.
The ancient Joford Castle was situated on a high ground, but it was not as strategically advantageous as other ancient castles. This was probably because the area was flat, and even the lord of the time could not find a better place to defend. The castle itself was completely collapsed, and from the high ground, only large piles of stones could be seen, barely recognizable as a massive stone structure, but not at all like the original castle. The grayish-white, cold stones formed a roughly rectangular ruin, looking lifeless.
Near the high ground, a small cluster of lights could be seen. With the help of the moonlight and the lights, tents and several large vehicles could be seen, with faint human figures moving around. These were likely the paranormal enthusiasts attracted by the haunted castle.
There were not as many people as Hao Ren had imagined, perhaps only a dozen or so. It seemed that even in the middle of the night, there were few people crazy enough to camp in the wilderness to find ghosts, which made Hao Ren feel much more relaxed— he had thought the place would be crowded.
Clearly, he had confused a ghost-hunting event with a temple fair.
"South Palace has arrived," Vivian pointed, and Hao Ren saw a car's headlights approaching from a distance. In the moonlight, he recognized it as the SUV driven by the innkeeper Angus, with South Palace sitting in the back, still looking like the arrogant expert.
"Hey, wait," Hao Ren suddenly felt something was off. He rubbed his eyes and strained to look into the darkness on the other side of the wilderness, "Vivian, how is your night vision?"
"Pretty good," Vivian nodded, "I'm a nocturnal creature."
"Can you see if there are three dead trees in that direction? And under one of the trees, there are... oh, two large rocks."
"Yes, I can see them clearly," Vivian said casually, then suddenly realized, "Wait, you can see them too?!"
Hao Ren squinted, noticing a detail he hadn't paid attention to before: despite the thick night and the dim moon, everything in his field of vision was as clear as in daylight! The three dead trees were at least two to three kilometers away, yet he could almost see every branch!
"Is this... the payment from Raven 12345?" Hao Ren suddenly remembered what Raven 12345 had told him before they left, "Under suitable conditions, the various effects of the body enhancement will be activated, right?"
Hao Ren felt happy, thinking that after being tricked for so long, he had finally encountered something good.
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