Chapter 280 The Uninvited Guests

Hao Ren followed Vivian’s finger and saw a man sitting at the long table prepared for “guests” by the bonfire. The man had a distinctly Western face, with deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and a worn wool coat. He was chatting happily with his companions at the table, a pleasant expression on his face, his angular features projecting shadows in the flickering firelight.

Hao Ren also felt a vague familiarity when he first saw this man, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't remember who he was. So he poked the data terminal in his pocket: "Brick, check the database. See if there's any information on this person."

"Pierre, male, spirit world detective, you've met him once," the data terminal immediately brought up the other party's information. "You probably forgot—when we were looking for the Ankatelo family, that is, the golden manor of those Tana people who were stranded on Earth, we saw this person in the town outside the golden manor. He called himself a spirit world detective. He's an ordinary human without special powers, relying on digging up antiques and knowledge in various supernatural relics for a living."

Only then did Hao Ren finally remember the identity of the man not far away, and a sense of emotion welled up in his heart: this world is really small. He thought that after meeting this spirit world detective by chance, there would be no further interaction, but he didn't expect to meet him here again!

There were other people around the spirit world detective. Two men and a woman were sitting beside him, probably his companions, or at least they were from outside the village—they were wearing modern clothes. The two Asian-faced men were wearing sportswear, and the remaining woman with short blond hair was wearing a conservative long coat and trousers. All of them were out of place in the surrounding environment. And Hao Ren also noticed one thing: including Pierre, the clothes of the four people were particularly old and dirty, as if they had been in this village for quite a long time.

The three people around Pierre were chatting with each other with smiles on their faces, and occasionally chatting with the villagers who passed by nearby. Pierre himself was peeling a roasted potato, looking at the bonfire in front of him with a dazed expression, not knowing what he was thinking. Except for the abnormally old clothes on their bodies, the four of them couldn't see anything unusual at all, and there was no sign that they were trapped here.

"Ah, those are the other guests I mentioned," the old village chief approached at some point, suddenly speaking like a ghost. "They seemed to have gotten lost in the forest, but luckily they found this village."

"I'll go say hello." Hao Ren left a sentence and walked straight to Pierre.

The spirit world detective was sensitive. When Hao Ren was still ten meters away, he felt someone approaching him. He immediately turned his head from his daze. When he saw Hao Ren and Vivian not far away, an unusually surprised expression appeared on his face.

This surprised expression flashed by, followed by a hint of excitement.

"What a coincidence," Hao Ren came to the spirit world detective and sat down directly opposite him. "I didn't expect to meet you here."

"Ah... ah..." Pierre obviously remembered Hao Ren and Vivian (no way, the identities of these two were so special in his spirit world detective career that the impression couldn't be more profound), but he recalled for a moment before remembering Hao Ren's specific name. "Hao Ren—this world is really small, why are you here too?"

"Looking for something," Hao Ren said vaguely. He believed that with the professional qualities of a spirit world detective, he could understand what "looking for something" meant. "Originally, I wanted to find someone, but now it seems that he doesn't live in this village anymore."

"Looking for someone here?!" Pierre raised his voice subconsciously, but then seemed to remember the identities of Hao Ren and Vivian, and immediately suppressed his voice again. The expression on his face became very strange, as if he had a lot to say, but some huge hidden worry or threat made him swallow these words back. Hao Ren noticed it and waved his hand calmly, changing the subject: "Who are these?"

The two men and one woman beside Pierre only nodded when Hao Ren sat down as a greeting, and then continued chatting about trivial matters. It wasn't until Hao Ren spoke that one of the Asian-faced men with dark skin turned his head with a smile: "Ah, hello, my name is Wang Kaiwen, next to me is my brother Wang Kaiwu, and this one who arrived before us is Catherine—are you a friend of Pierre? This is really fate. Enjoy a few days in this village, this is a good place!"

Wang Kaiwen had a pleasant smile on his face when he spoke, and he also waved to a few villagers passing by, as if he really enjoyed the life here. Hao Ren noticed a detail in the other party's words: "Arrived before you? You're not together?"

"I was the last one to arrive," Pierre also put on a smile. "Catherine was the earliest, then the Wang brothers, and finally me."

Hao Ren frowned after seeing the smile on Pierre's face: "How long have you been here?"

Pierre opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Hao Ren heard the old village chief's voice behind him: "Oh? You know each other?"

Hao Ren turned his head and saw the old man standing behind him with a cane, and beside him were Lily and Vivian, who looked bored. Hesperides stood in the farthest place, looking thoughtfully at the square where the gathering was being held.

"We met a long time ago," Pierre took the initiative to stand up and replied. "Mr. Winston, can we start the banquet? I'm looking forward to it!"

So the old village chief's name was Winston.

"Oh, oh," Winston nodded, a cheerful look on his face. "You've already started to enjoy life in this village! Come on, come on, let's bring up the soup and tree fruit pie and muffins—let's all start celebrating!"

Hao Ren and the others were confused, but the two men and one woman beside Pierre immediately showed quite happy expressions. Then they saw many strong farm women bringing the food that was originally placed in the four corners of the square. Wooden soup bowls and dishes were placed on the table, and dark, sweet-smelling soup and hot pies quickly filled the table. The old village chief Winston enthusiastically urged Hao Ren and his party to sit down quickly, and repeatedly said that such a banquet was to welcome "guests from afar." Hao Ren and the others knew that the situation was strange, but out of curiosity, they sat down.

Wang Kaiwen seemed unusually happy. He even took the initiative to help Hao Ren and the others fill the soup, and enthusiastically introduced: "You must try this first soup. When I first drank it, I couldn't believe that there was such a good thing in the world! Ah, this is a secluded paradise, and everything here is worth living here for a lifetime."

"What is this made of?" Lily took the soup bowl and sniffed hard. "It's sweet~"

"Made with things from the forest," the old village chief personally sat at the head of the long table to accompany the guests. He introduced with a proud expression, "Everything here comes from this generous forest. You will definitely not find better food than here anywhere else."

Hao Ren raised his head slightly and looked around. Sure enough, although the villagers were gathered at other long tables, their attention was quietly focused on himself and a few others—this attention was very secretive, but for Hao Ren, who had transcended the five senses, it was as conspicuous as Izhaks standing on the street.

The Wang Kaiwen and Wang Kaiwu brothers had already started drinking soup and stuffing muffins into their mouths, while Catherine praised the richness and deliciousness of today's meal. Pierre was perhaps the most normal one, but he also started drinking soup in small sips, and intentionally or unintentionally reminded: "Drink slowly, don't drink too much at once—I mean, there will be a main course later."

As soon as the spirit world detective finished speaking, Lily had already drained the soup bowl in one gulp, and then raised the bowl and shouted happily: "One more bowl!"

Pierre: "..."

Hao Ren: "..."

Although he knew that this girl had just eaten a lot of natural treasures and was now in a state of invulnerability, could she be a little less carefree!

But in any case, after Lily had a bellyful of soup, the atmosphere immediately became lively. The surrounding gazes that were quietly watching also instantly decreased a lot. Everyone seemed to have gotten closer on the dinner table, and Hao Ren and his party chatted with Pierre and his group.

Wang Kaiwen talked a lot, while his younger brother was somewhat taciturn. Catherine seemed to be just as introverted, even a little dull, while Pierre obviously didn't want to talk much on the dinner table, so basically only Wang Kaiwen was talking enthusiastically.

Most of the topics he talked about were praising this village, praising its paradise, praising its hospitality, and praising its suitability for living.

In the brief responses from Wang Kaiwu and Catherine, the two of them obviously also supported this view.

"You don't plan to leave?" Lily, who was already on her third bowl of soup, wiped her mouth and asked Wang Kaiwen curiously, "You should have lived here for a long time, right?"

Wang Kaiwen was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand: "Why leave? There's everything here."

Lily continued to ask while serving herself her fourth muffin: "Aren't you going home?"

Wang Kaiwu frowned: "Go home... oh, we'll always go back, we'll always go back... but it's good to live here now."

At this time, Winston suddenly interrupted Lily's inquiry: "Let's forget these trivial matters for now. We should enjoy the food at this time."

"That's right, eat, eat," Pierre also echoed from the side. "We'll have plenty of time to chat later. I'll introduce this good place to you."

Hao Ren glanced at Pierre with a hidden meaning, and the latter nodded slightly in response.