Chapter 1 Nan Gong's Arrival

Standing on the platform of this small rural station, Nangong took a deep breath of the slightly dry, earthy air. His face, though not handsome, possessed a scholarly air of an expert, and he wore a delighted expression. "Can't you guys feel it? There's a certain scent in the air."

Hao Ren bristled at this display, feeling that Nangong might really be a ticking time bomb. Was this "demon hunter" really so effective? Had he just stepped off the train and already sensed the ominous wind blowing from the castle?

"I don't smell anything," Vivian sniffed. "Besides, it should still be quite a distance from Yoford Castle, right?"

"'Those things' always have a scent that can travel far," Nangong said, smoothing his wind-blown hair, appearing quite pleased. "As a demon hunter, I'm best at capturing their scent—of course, you wouldn't be able to sense it; it requires training. Alright, let's not waste time. Let's hurry to town and find a place to stay; the sun will be setting soon."

With that, Nangong dragged his large suitcase and walked toward the slope at the end of the platform. Only after he had walked more than ten meters did Lily suddenly open her eyes and clamor, "Smell what, smell what? Let me smell! My nose is very sensitive!"

"Go back to sleep," Vivian said, patting Lily on the back. The werewolf girl wasn't annoyed. She simply said "Oh," lowered her head, and instantly fell asleep, continuing her jet-lagged sleepwalking state.

"I really didn't smell anything," Vivian said, noticing Hao Ren's gaze on her. She immediately shook her head vigorously. "The Blood Clan is also very sensitive to the aura of the undead, but I didn't detect anything. It's too far from the Yoford Castle ruins, and it's not even nighttime, which isn't the time for the undead to be active. That guy who claims to be a demon hunter… does he really have special sensory abilities? But he couldn't even tell what Vivian and I are."

Hao Ren stroked his chin and thought for a moment, coming to a conclusion: "He's probably just putting on an act."

Vivian: "...Now that you mention it, that's actually possible!"

The small station was right next to the town of Brusall, with a narrow country road connecting the station to the town. Unfortunately, Hao Ren and the others couldn't find a bus, so the four of them had to take a taxi to town. By the time they entered the town, it was almost completely dark. Only the last bit of red light remained on the horizon, stubbornly clinging to it, while the streetlights in the town gradually lit up. Hao Ren looked at the unfamiliar streets of this foreign land and finally felt a bit emotional. He wasn't someone who went out much, rarely traveling far from home or spending the night away, let alone going abroad. But now he was standing on another piece of land eight time zones away from his hometown, in an unfamiliar environment, with unfamiliar people, unfamiliar customs, and unfamiliar writing and language. At least the last two were solved with high technology, but the other awkwardnesses remained. He hugged his arms and breathed a sigh, missing everything comfortable at home, and also missing that magical little black cat. He wondered how "Roll" was doing at home; she had probably already run out into the streets and was fighting with those wild cats and dogs.

Hao Ren, the homebody who almost never traveled far, was still a bit unaccustomed to being in a foreign country, but Vivian didn't feel that way. The vampire girl, who had traveled around the world several times, had been eagerly observing this country, which was unfamiliar to her, all the way from London to this small rural town. She had finally observed something: "It doesn't seem as serious as they say on TV. There aren't many outsiders. Either the TV is exaggerating, or those paranormal enthusiasts and experts haven't arrived yet."

Hao Ren made sure that Nangong was walking far ahead and couldn't hear them, then lowered his head and asked in a low voice, "How can you tell?"

"Listening to heartbeats, sensing bloodlines—my specialties," Vivian shrugged. "Heartbeats reveal everyone's emotions, and the scent of blood reveals their family relationships and origins. Every native creature has the same factors in their blood, which can't be changed in a short time. I can vaguely sense how many discordant bloodlines there are here, and how many restless hearts there are. Combining the two, I can roughly judge how many people have come for the haunted castle. These are all skills that the Blood Clan must possess for 'hunting,' although I don't harm people, at least the talent is still there."

Hao Ren felt goosebumps all over his body, and when he looked at Vivian's eyes, he felt like they were glowing red. This girl was speaking in her usual tone, but the content of her words was really creepy. This useless vampire was finally showing a bit of the aura of a noblewoman of the night—although all that aura did was help her check the local population, and it was a rough check at that.

He turned his head to look at Lily, who was following behind with her eyes closed: This time, it was the ditzy werewolf who was dropping the ball. This guy usually boasted about her keen senses, especially her extraordinary sense of smell, but at this critical moment, she was just dozing off. The only purpose of her sense of smell was to prevent herself from getting lost.

"In any case, it's a good sign. The fewer irrelevant people, the better," Hao Ren nodded. "The mission instructions that Raven 12345 gave me said to go to Yoford Castle, saying that once we reached a certain location, we would naturally be able to sense the 'client,' but she wasn't sure what state that 'client' was currently in, so it's best not to have too many unrelated people watching nearby."

"Are we setting off at night?" Vivian frowned. "I have an advantage in nighttime operations, and Big Dog will be energetic in the second half of the night. She's at least a bit of a combat force."

Hao Ren curled his lips, thinking that was an understatement. A brick could knock you, a high-level blood clan, into a daze; wouldn't that count as a combat force!

"We'll see how it goes tonight, and first see how much initiative those paranormal enthusiasts who have been attracted here have. We'll have to act by tomorrow night at the latest. The longer we delay, the more people will gather here."

"It's also good to have more people," Vivian thought for a moment. "We can just mix in with them and say that we're also here to look for ghosts. Sometimes being upright is the best disguise."

"What if a headless knight suddenly jumped out of the castle in front of everyone and shouted 'Landlord!' while hugging me? What if golden light burst out from my body and a line of subtitles popped up saying 'Pairing Successful!'? What if the new tenant we meet is a lunatic who doesn't mind causing trouble and loves to watch the fun? I have to consider my own luck—and Raven 12345's ability to screw things up. If any of the above situations happen, you'll have to find a way to get me out of mi5... Do you have the confidence to break into a British prison?"

Vivian nodded very seriously: "I've broken into one before—but back then, the prisons here used wooden fences and cellars. I knocked down a dozen knights to rescue a sister from a prison cell; she had been captured by demon hunters..."

"Don't mention things from before 1190."

Vivian: "..."

At this moment, Nangong's greeting suddenly came from ahead, interrupting Hao Ren and Vivian's idle chatter: "Hey, let's stay here tonight! It's getting late, and we probably won't be able to find any hotels if we go further into town."

Hao Ren looked up and realized that he had unknowingly followed Nangong to the front of a small hotel. The small hotel was a three-story building, not large in scale, but the exterior was quite clean and new. The white walls and blue tiles were quite beautiful. There was a line of English on the neon sign at the entrance of the hotel. With the convenience of the translation system, Hao Ren read it out as if it were his native language: "Angus's Cottage... Hey, what a coincidence!"

That's right, it was the name of the small hotel that he had heard on TV yesterday. The hotel owner here should be the uncle who appeared on TV!

Hao Ren and the other three quickly followed Nangong through the hotel entrance. Behind the counter on the first floor of the hotel were two people, one was a young woman who looked like a cashier, and the other was a short, stout, and honest-looking middle-aged man, who was the one who had appeared on TV before.

"Oh, welcome to Angus's Cottage!" The chubby boss behind the counter greeted them enthusiastically as soon as he saw the guests, then turned to the female employee next to him and showed off triumphantly, "Look, more foreigners. Now we don't have to worry about business."

Hao Ren was stunned: Did even England start to like having foreigners around?