Chapter 1 Something Fishy

After the Nangong siblings led their parents back, the first thing they saw was Hao Ren and Lily huddled together, studying something with strange expressions. As an old hunter, Nangong Wudi immediately sensed the presence of some discordant magic. He looked towards the coffee table: "What are you looking at?"

"A magic book," Lily said, wagging her tail excitedly. "Little Bat sent her a book, and it paints her like the Monkey King…"

This husky's priorities were always so unique.

Nangong Sān-bā plopped himself onto the sofa with a whoosh, breathing in the refreshing coolness that filled the living room. "Ah... this air conditioning is more reliable than my sister. I asked her to freeze me a popsicle on the way, and she almost froze me solid…"

"So, what did you guys get out of your little stroll?" Hao Ren asked May with a smile. "Have Uncle and Aunt found a way to make a living?"

He was just asking, but to his surprise, Elsa actually nodded. "Yes, there's a fried pancake stall down the street that's about to close. The old couple who run it said they're going to the city to join their children. My husband and I are planning to take over the stall. I have the skills, and we can sell breakfast and things like that."

Hao Ren was taken aback. He didn't expect the Nangong couple to be so proactive. "Wow, you guys are moving fast... but have you adapted to modern society's way of life? Do you understand modern money and the rules for opening a shop?"

"The way of life isn't a problem," Nangong Wudi said with a slight smile. "When my wife and I were in the shelter, wasn't everything there more advanced than here? We still learned it all. As for the Renminbi and shop-opening rules used now, they're even simpler. Setting up a stall to sell things, it's a trade that hasn't changed in thousands of years. It's very quick to learn."

Hao Ren thought that made sense. Although the two of them had theoretically been out of touch with Earth society for a hundred years, they had spent those hundred years in a high-tech alien shelter, using ultra-modern furniture and appliances with ease. Adapting to modern life on Earth wouldn't be too difficult for them. However, he still mentioned casually, "Actually, if it's just for living expenses, you don't have to do this. You can live here with me, and all kinds of expenses can be reimbursed. The Special Administrative Office of Supernatural Affairs covers it."

Elsa shook her head. "We just can't stand being idle. We always have to do something to feel alive, unlike you young people…"

Hearing this, Lily quickly pointed in the direction of the kitchen and reminded in a low voice, "Don't say that—there's a ten-thousand-year-old waiting for a job in there."

Vivian's voice immediately came from the kitchen: "Big Dog, are you talking about me behind my back?!"

Lily's ears twitched. "How come Bat's ears are better than mine…"

Hao Ren asked Nangong Wudi curiously, "So, if you're going to open a shop, do you have the capital? I can help out a bit."

"No need to worry," Nangong Wudi said with a slight smile, taking out a heavy cloth bag from his chest. "I have silver ingots and gold cakes from back then. No matter what, these things are always valuable, right? Demon hunters never lack money."

As soon as Hao Ren saw this, he quickly waved his hand. "Forget it, let me sponsor you. These days, it's easier to get into trouble if you go out with half a pound of gold to exchange for money."

Nangong Wudi casually tossed the bag of gold and silver to Hao Ren. "Then this is for you. Anyway, it's useless for me to keep it. Don't refuse. My wife and I still owe you two lives. A bag of gold and silver can't clear that debt."

Since the other party had said it to this extent, Hao Ren didn't want to say anything else. He weighed the heavy bag in his hand, wondering what he could do with this stuff, so he casually threw it into his Dimensional Pocket. Lily, on the other hand, stared at it for a long time, muttering, "I want to take a piece to grind my teeth…"

Hao Ren glared at her. "You're not afraid of dying if you use gold to grind your teeth."

At this moment, Nangong Wuyue had already begun to curiously study the black-covered book on the coffee table. Although she wasn't a demon hunter, she could still feel the faint magical fluctuations coming from the pages of the book. She flipped through the mysterious illustrations and crooked Latin letters from the Middle Ages. The words in this book were permeated with a blasphemous and unclean taste. All kinds of cruel and dark magical knowledge shrouded the entire book in an unpleasant atmosphere. She frowned. "What is this thing for? Why are you guys studying this?"

"Oh, right, we're planning to summon Bat!" Lily immediately introduced the origin of the book with great interest. "Bat doesn't want to get involved, but we can get involved. Tonight is the full moon... do you want to try it?"

May looked at Lily with a subtle expression. "You... Vivian is right here. What's the point of holding a ritual to summon her? And can this kind of ritual, which looks like nonsense, work?"

"I feel like this ritual is written quite convincingly," Lily scratched her cheek. "And don't you think it's interesting? If it really works, it might be able to yank Bat out of the room with a whoosh... and scare her!"

Everyone suddenly didn't know how to evaluate this husky's train of thought.

But in any case, the special nature of this witch book still aroused great interest in everyone. A book recording how to summon an evil spirit, and this "evil spirit" just happened to be an acquaintance of theirs. Anyone would feel that was novel. To be honest, considering Vivian's ancient history and her lively energy in running around the world, it was conceivable to find legends or even religious rituals related to her in some ancient books, but it was one thing to imagine, and another to see it with your own eyes—those who study cavemen all day, try letting them see a real one?

"What are you guys whispering about?" Vivian came out with a pot of food and immediately saw Hao Ren and the others discussing the magic book. She frowned. "What are you doing studying that broken thing? It was all written by a bunch of crazy wizards hundreds of years ago to deceive collectors. Now, it's useless except for collecting. Stop studying it and come eat—Big Dog, go call back Old Wang and Elizabeth too. They're fixing the motorcycle behind the house."

Yizaks and Elizabeth were fixing Hao Ren's old motorcycle behind the house. A few days ago, Yizaks had a whim to ride the motorcycle with his daughter for a ride outside, but due to his unsuitable physique and unfamiliarity with the structure of the motorcycle, there was a small problem: when he got on the car, a back kick sent a third of the frame flying out, and his daughter was also kicked out along with it... Although Hao Ren didn't care much about the old motorcycle that rattled as soon as it hit the road, Yizaks and his daughter seemed determined to fix the car. Currently, their achievement was to successfully dismantle the remaining two-thirds of the car on the ground. Elizabeth decided to replace it with a magic engine.

Because the original engine was crushed by her dad.

Again, the demons' way of life was simply thrilling…

A peaceful day passed quickly. Night fell, and the full moon night arrived as scheduled.

Although Vivian herself didn't seem to care much about the summoning ritual mentioned in the magic book, at Lily's instigation, the others decided to try it out in the evening.

That night, the sky was clear and cloudless, and the bright moon hung high. The night of the full moon was a good time to perform those mysterious and evil rituals, and the place to test the ritual was chosen behind the house: an empty and uninhabited wilderness, so there was no need to worry about making strange noises that would scare the neighbors.

Lily was as happy as a child preparing to set off fireworks, and she was the first to rush behind the house to prepare the ritual site. By the time the others arrived, she had prepared the summoning circle and various ritual items almost completely. The husky girl happily circled the open space behind the house, occasionally looking up at the full moon in the sky and giggling twice. Nangong Wudi was a little stunned when he saw this situation. "What's wrong with her?"

"'Pretending to be a werewolf syndrome,' she's always like this," Hao Ren smacked his lips and looked back at the back door of the house. Vivian stayed at home and didn't come out. In fact, she was still kept in the dark: Lily fooled her into washing "Rolling." Considering the troublemaking nature of that stupid cat, it was estimated that Vivian wouldn't notice the movement outside for a while.

The crowd didn't tell Vivian about testing the magic book in the evening. This was of course Lily's idea. The husky wanted to take this opportunity to shield all unpredictable interference factors and test whether the summoning ritual on the witch book would work when Vivian was completely unprepared.

"I'm actually taking the initiative to join in this kind of fun," Hao Ren shook his head with a hint of self-deprecation, thinking that the peaceful days of the past few days had made him as bored as Lily. He opened the magic book again, looking at the weird illustrations in the moonlight. "Tsk tsk, I have to say, it really looks like the Monkey King…"

The moonlight shone on the parchment pages of the magic book, and a faint blood color faintly appeared in the center of the moon.