Chapter 27 Reunion

Standing before Hao Ren and the others was a seemingly young couple. The woman wore a dark blue gown of indistinguishable material, her long hair piled high, her brow and eyes bearing a resemblance to Nangong Wuyue. The man wore a long black trench coat, open to reveal a Hunter-style wide belt with a silver dagger hanging from it. However, there were no crossbows or other signature weapons to be seen. His features resembled Nangong Sanba's by five or six parts. Due to the sirens' peculiar "selective heredity," the Nangong siblings had inherited their parents' appearances almost perfectly.

As paranormals, the couple had not aged despite the passing of a century. They still looked young, just more mature than their children. They stared in shock at the group of people who had suddenly appeared before them, looking almost helpless. When they heard Wuyue's soft cry, they froze.

"Dad, Mom, it's us!" Wuyue tugged her brother forward. "I'm Wuyue, and I've come with my brother to find you!"

"Wuyue? Sanba?" The male Hunter looked at the two young people in disbelief, his steps faltering slightly. He never thought he would have the chance to see anyone else here, let alone that his own children would appear before him. "How... how did you get here?"

"We caught that Fury Spirit from back then, and the Landlord found this place in the Fury Spirit's memories," Sanba explained hurriedly, trying to remain calm. "These people are our friends—they helped us get here. Mom, Dad, have you been living here for a hundred years…?"

The reunion of family was a touching scene, but Hao Ren felt somewhat awkward standing there as an outsider. Seeing the four of them so excited that they were almost incoherent, he cleared his throat. "Well, then, you guys catch up first. We'll go look around somewhere else… We'll meet up at the mall entrance later."

Nangong Sanba nodded gratefully, opening his mouth but unable to say anything. Hao Ren smiled and waved at him, dragging Lily by the arm to pull the girl away.

"The family's finally reunited. This trip wasn't in vain," Vivian said, stretching her neck to look into the distance as they walked through the empty mall. "They'll probably be talking for a long time. We've achieved our main goal this time."

Even the rough-hewn Izhaks showed a rare touch of emotion at this moment. He thought of his own experiences, and a smile appeared on his face. "I can understand… I recently went through something similar myself."

Hao Ren scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed. "I'm suddenly feeling a little awkward…"

Lily bared her teeth. "We haven't even started praising you yet, and you're already getting shy!"

Without realizing it, they had reached the second floor of the mall. It was just as empty here, but the neatly arranged shops were still fully stocked, and the counters and shelves were spotless. Lily casually grabbed a package from a nearby shelf, examined it, and, confirming it was a snack, tore it open and stuffed it into her mouth. Seeing this, Vivian quickly reminded her, "Hey, be careful! Don't just pick up random things to eat! You don't know where they c—"

Lily swallowed the mouthful of snacks and rolled her eyes at Vivian. "Are you stupid? Nangong's parents have been living here for a hundred years—of course this stuff is edible." With that, she grabbed a handful of shrimp-flavored sticks from the plastic bag and shoved them into Hao Ren's mouth. "Landlord, you try some too. It tastes a bit like burnt crackers!"

As he was being force-fed by the dog, Hao Ren wondered to himself, *How does Lily always display intelligence in such inexplicable situations…?*

"Although I don't know the exact date here… I'd guess these things were recently produced." Izhaks's focus was elsewhere. He reached for Lily's snack package, wanting to check it out, but as soon as he raised his hand, the latter bared her teeth and growled threateningly. Lily glared at Izhaks's large hand, her fangs showing. Seeing this, the Great Demon could only twitch his lips. "She's certainly making her attitude clear… Fine, I'll go find a package myself."

Vivian looked strangely at Lily and then at Hao Ren. "You've really trained her well."

At that moment, a soft beeping sound came from nearby, and a hidden door suddenly opened in a wall not far away. An automatically operating small truck emerged from the hidden door, loaded with various goods. Ignoring Hao Ren and the others who were standing curiously in front of the shop, the truck drove straight to the shelves. A disc-like machine rose from the truck and began to restock the shelves: specifically, the two packages of snacks that Lily and Izhaks had taken.

Seeing this, Vivian casually grabbed another package from the shelf, and the truck immediately made a chattering sound. The little disc frantically began to restock again.

"The machines are maintaining everything," Vivian said, looking down at the item in her hand. "But do people actually come here to 'buy' things normally?"

Izhaks smiled. "At least two people do."

A dozen minutes later, the group reunited at the mall entrance. The Nangong family of four seemed to have calmed down from their initial excitement—though, of course, the excitement probably wouldn't fade for days. Nangong Wuyue introduced her new friends to her parents, but before she could say two words, Lily butted in and finished the introduction. The girl's ability to make friends was as strong as ever.

"We've already heard about how you came here," Nangong Wuyue's mother, Elsa, said with a smile, bowing deeply to Hao Ren. "We don't know how to repay your great kindness. Although I don't know what my husband and I can do to help, please don't hesitate to ask if there's anything we can do."

Elsa's husband nodded. "I heard you're investigating this place. We've lived here for a hundred years, so we should be able to help."

Izhaks was immediately delighted. "That's perfect. Sanba's dad, right? We…"

The Great Demon was always casual when addressing people. Nangong Sanba's father smiled and waved his hand. "That's quite a mouthful… My name is Nangong Wudi. It's a pleasure to meet you all."

The scene immediately fell silent. Hao Ren's face was frozen, and he didn't react for a long time. *This uncle's name is badass enough!*

Then he patted Nangong Sanba on the shoulder and whispered, "Is that your dad's stage name?"

Nangong Sanba said through gritted teeth, "Real name."

"Your family's naming style is passed down through generations and only to the men, right?"

Nangong Sanba squeezed out a few words between his teeth. "You talk too much!"

Nangong Wudi himself didn't think there was anything wrong with the name. This old Hunter, whose name was particularly imposing but was actually just as mediocre as Nangong Sanba, smiled and waved to the others. "This isn't the place to talk. I'll take you all to the place where my wife and I are staying."

Lily looked surprised. "You have a house here?"

Elsa smiled gently, raising her hand and pointing to the empty city. "There are houses everywhere here."

Everyone immediately understood what she meant.

The Nangong couple's current residence was some distance from the mall, requiring them to pass through several blocks. They expertly hailed a floating bus on the side of the road. Like all the facilities in the city, it was unmanned.

The bus drove smoothly under the control of its automatic program, and took off steadily on a slope marked with an upward arrow, flying towards the distant residential area. Luminous guide lines appeared in the air before and behind the floating bus, seemingly to prevent collisions with other airborne vehicles. Hao Ren sat in the front seat and looked up at the driver's seat. There were a lot of instruments flashing non-stop and control rods that were turning automatically, but in front of the control panel was a seat prepared for someone—it seemed that the transport vehicle had originally been designed with a driver in mind, and automatic operation was just another control method.

On the screens on both sides of the carriage, boring advertisements were playing. A large group of children were jumping around a pile of bizarre amusement facilities, and the subtitles below showed an advertisement for a newly opened amusement park.

The world on the screen was lively and extraordinary, while the world outside the screen was silent and deserted.

The cheerful music and children's laughter in the advertisement filled the carriage, but all this only made it more horrifying.