Chapter 67

Nangong rubbed the back of his head and sat up, realizing he was lying on a small hill. The ground beneath him was barren and desolate, and the sky above was gradually brightening — the terrifying scene in the underground chamber seemed like a distant dream.

A throbbing pain shot through the back of his head, and the air around him was filled with a suffocating, scorched smell, which made him frown and mutter, "Cough, cough, what happened to me?"

Hao Ren gestured for Vivian, Lily, and Izaak to be quiet, then slapped Nangong on the shoulder: "You're awake? Then look up and see the big news."

"Hao Ren?" Nangong was surprised to see three familiar faces and a strange, burly man standing beside him. "Are you all okay? The evil spirits in the underground chamber didn't hurt you? Hey, who's this guy... Holy crap, what's going on?!"

Nangong finally saw the distant crater, from which thick smoke was billowing. The few remaining stones around the crater and the surrounding scenery barely allowed one to recognize it as the ancient Jofurde Castle. But after just one night, the centuries-old castle had been reduced to a large pit and a slowly cooling pool of lava. No matter how much Nangong had seen in his life, he couldn't wrap his head around it.

"You probably won't believe what happened, but a meteor fell from the sky and completely destroyed the castle," Hao Ren said with a sincere expression, without a hint of embarrassment.

Nangong listened in a daze, then touched the back of his head: "Wait, I remember we were fighting evil spirits in the underground chamber, and you were all behind me. There were a bunch of knight spirits around... Then I felt a pain in my head and everything went black."

Hao Ren tried to make his eyes look even more sincere and acted as if he was still shaken: "Don't even mention those cursed things. My legs are still cramping. We managed to escape by a miracle — when the ceiling of the underground chamber collapsed again while you were bravely fighting, it knocked you out. I was closing my eyes, preparing to die, but the iron canisters around us suddenly lay still and stopped moving. We three had to work hard to carry you... and this old man up. We planned to hitch a ride back when it got light, but this place was too eerie, so we ran as fast as we could. That saved everyone's life: a meteor fell from the sky ten minutes ago, and now you see what happened."

Throughout the story, Hao Ren assumed the role of an ordinary person who knew nothing, making no attempt to explain why the armored spirits in the underground chamber "lay still and stopped moving" or why a meteor fell from the sky with such precision to destroy the entire castle. He told the bizarre story without any guilt, leaving it to Nangong to fill in the gaps.

Hao Ren's mindset was despicable: "I'm just an ordinary person who knows nothing, come and bite me~~"

Sure enough, Nangong was completely confused and had no intention of asking Hao Ren for more details. He seemed to not believe that these ordinary-looking people and the two harmless-looking girls could have anything to do with such an event. The "expert" used his own logic to make a guess: "Maybe the spirits were controlled by something more central in the underground chamber. This kind of situation is often seen in ancient ruins... Yes, that must be it, I'm an expert."

Hao Ren, Vivian, and the others rolled their eyes in unison: "He really has the nerve to say that."

Nangong slowly stood up, looking regretfully at the distant crater. He knew the castle must have held countless secrets that could explain why the spirits suddenly fell and why he was saved by three "ordinary people," but now nothing was left, and there was no way to investigate.

Hao Ren looked at Izaak with gratitude. The meteor trick was indeed a versatile skill. As long as a rock fell from the sky and the spell wasn't cast in front of ordinary people, you wouldn't have to worry about anything that happened afterward. No one on this planet would believe that a powerful being could pull a small planet from the Kuiper Belt to smash someone for fun. The only ones who would be worried would be the astrophysicists — and the half-baked ghost hunter in front of him.

Not long after, the onlookers from Brusar finally arrived.

Several off-road vehicles stopped near the site of Jofurde Castle, where the thick smoke and the high-temperature lava from the meteor's impact made it impossible for anyone to get close. In fact, the townspeople had noticed the commotion when Izaak descended, and the sky was filled with flames, much like the first "haunting" incident. The town's busybodies and paranormal enthusiasts from out of town quickly gathered and left the town, but there was no road from the town entrance to Jofurde Castle, only rugged stone beaches. Even the off-road vehicles couldn't drive very fast, so they only saw the tail end of the event: the moment the meteor fell from the sky.

No one, no matter how reckless, dared to rush forward in the face of the meteor's power. It wasn't until the shockwave and the explosion subsided that they arrived at the scene. Now they were gathered around the site of the vanished castle, discussing it. Some were posting on Twitter, some were taking photos with the crater, some were holding paranormal detectors with solemn faces, and some were foaming at the mouth, claiming that the Lord of Jofurde had something to say — the last one was particularly energetic, having stayed up all night without tiring and now repeating the ordeal in the morning.

But most people's faces were filled with simple shock. These ordinary citizens didn't have the reasoning skills of professionals; they just felt that such major events happening one after another in a small town... they would have a lot to brag about in the future.

After a night of折腾 (torture), Hao Ren and the others were exhausted, both physically and mentally. They decided to hitch a ride back to town, while Nangong walked with the still dazed Indian monk (the old man's body was indeed weak, and the same force had knocked him out for so long). The half-baked demon hunter kept repeating, "Why is this? Why is this?"

After all, with all the evidence vaporized, even Sherlock Holmes couldn't trace the cause back to a demon falling from the sky.

The group returned to town. They could have gone straight back to London, but Vivian suggested they check on "Angus's Inn" to see how the innkeeper was doing and to ensure there were no lingering issues. Hao Ren and Lily had no objections, and Izaak, who had been unusually quiet since leaving Jofurde Castle, simply nodded in agreement.

But Hao Ren didn't press the matter; after all, they had just met and weren't close enough to start asking questions.

They quickly found the small inn on the edge of town. As expected, the innkeeper, Angus, was not behind the counter, smiling and greeting guests as usual.

"The boss was brought back from outside early this morning, in poor spirits. It seems he's sick and hasn't been seen since."

The young girl at the counter (not the one from yesterday) answered the guests' inquiries honestly.

After leaving the inn, Hao Ren sighed with relief: "It looks like he hasn't been spreading rumors and doesn't know our identities."

Vivian, who had more information, had already sent out a small bat to find Angus, who was lying in bed, staring blankly. The innkeeper looked severely shaken but would likely recover in a few days. As for the truth...

No one would ever know.

The group returned to London and didn't bother with the fancy hotels this time, opting for a simple inn to rest for a day. They needed the rest, and Izaak's travel documents hadn't arrived yet.

While staying at the inn, Hao Ren connected with Raven 12345.

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