Set off

"I found something," Vivian said, snapping her fingers lightly. Lin Feng then saw a thin black mist wafting from the corner of the room, quickly condensing into several small bats fluttering around Vivian's shoulders.

Having spent some time with the two superwomen at home, Lin Feng was no stranger to such supernatural things, especially Muyun's tail and Vivian's bats. At this moment, he casually teased a bat that flew in front of him, while curiously asking, "What did you find?"

"Hey, don't move around. These bats are my avatars, sharing senses with me," Vivian waved her hand to push away Lin Feng's paw, then looked in the direction outside the window, "I sent a few bats to the castle and indeed found something unusual— the scent of death, at least several hundred years old, and in considerable quantity."

Lin Feng suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Although he was prepared, even accepting that their new housemate might be undead, hearing this news still sent a shiver down his spine. "Really? Quite a few? Crow12345 said there was only one... should we pick one to take away from inside?"

"Forget about that for now. I found that the aura of death there is different from the haunting we heard about outside," Vivian shook her head, "The death aura of the castle is suppressed underground. My bats only sensed it when they drilled into a collapsed tunnel. Although I haven't found the source or entrance to the underground, I can confirm that the suppressive environment is still intact. Theoretically... there shouldn't be any vengeful spirits or the like coming to the surface."

Lin Feng pondered for a moment, quickly realizing what was amiss, "So, there are indeed ghosts in the castle, but they are currently suppressed. Logically, there should be no haunting incidents near the castle, right? Then what about the haunting reports from the people around here..."

"It's hard to say. If it's an overly powerful undead, it can indeed affect ordinary people in the vicinity with illusions or false memories, even while sealed, but such powerful undead have not appeared in many years... theoretically, they should have been cleansed by demon hunters," Vivian explained.

Lin Feng spread his hands in frustration, "What a mess. How can I, a normal person, get involved in such things?"

Just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly saw Vivian's expression change slightly and immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"That Nangong seems to be preparing to leave," Vivian frowned, "I have a bat hanging outside his window, and I saw him arranging that box of 'tools'... he's pushing the door out!"

"At this hour?" Lin Feng was surprised, "He's really dedicated, going out to 'work' just after arriving here. Could this demon hunter really have some skills?"

Before, Lin Feng thought Nangong was most likely a ghost-hunting charlatan, and even if he knew a bit about demon hunting, he wouldn't be a real professional (he didn't look like a professional with his high-profile appearance). However, he didn't expect that as soon as he arrived, he would be going out to work without regard for fatigue. Such dedication was not something an ordinary ghost hunter would have.

Vivian didn't say anything, just ran to the window and looked downstairs, waving for Lin Feng to come over, "Come and see, he's already gone out. I'm curious how he plans to get to that castle. The castle is tens of kilometers away from here, and he's also a foreigner, definitely without a car, and at this hour, it's impossible to find a taxi willing to go to such a remote area—he wouldn't really understand some secret techniques of demon hunters, would he?"

Lin Feng and Vivian leaned side by side on the windowsill, seeing Nangong standing at the hotel entrance, seemingly lost in thought. He didn't bring his huge and peerless suitcase but a smaller black one. Still in a white shirt and black trousers, he looked like an ordinary salesman on a short trip. Just as Vivian had said: Nangong was also a foreigner, without any foundation here, naturally without convenient transportation. How did he plan to travel to the castle dozens of kilometers away in the dead of night?

"If he is a true demon hunter, achieving speeds of over a hundred kilometers per hour is very simple. Some demon hunters can even fly or teleport short distances," Vivian furrowed her brow, "He's making strange gestures towards a certain direction. Could he really know some secret techniques?"

Lin Feng's mind was suddenly filled with all sorts of jargon, such as shrinking into inches, riding the wind, wolf spirit protection, and ancestral spirits. In his mind, Nangong was about to rise up on a cloud—just then, a car appeared from behind the small hotel. The fat innkeeper, Angus, was driving it, and Nangong nodded to him, got into the car, followed by an Indian monk in monk's attire and a European man dressed like Batman. Lin Feng clearly saw them contributing money before getting into the car...

Vivian awkwardly opened her mouth, "Uh, carpooling... it seems that the innkeeper has recently started a new business."

Lin Feng: "...I was thinking too much just now."

It seemed that the haunted castle nearby had attracted many strange characters. Even foreigners were drawn here, and Lin Feng wondered why these enthusiasts of the paranormal from around the world were so proactive. Perhaps they were usually idle, waiting to hear about haunted places on Earth.

After Angus drove away with the three demon hunting professionals from different countries, Vivian nudged Lin Feng's arm, "Let's follow them and take action tonight."

Lin Feng didn't understand, "Didn't you say you wanted to stay away from the demon hunters as much as possible, preferably not meeting Nangong?"

"I've changed my mind. What if there are some really skilled demon hunters among this group? What if they find new tenants before us? And surely there will be more people in the future. We can't wait for this trend to die down on its own, who knows how many days that will take. The night is long, and dreams are many."

Lin Feng found her reasoning sound, but he glanced at the door uneasily, "I'm already rested. I don't mind staying up tonight, but we still have a Sleeping Beauty—Muyun won't wake up until midnight. Should we bring her too?"

"It's fine, she'll wake up soon. She has a magical ability to run around with us even while asleep. By the time she wakes up at the castle, it'll be perfect." 

Lin Feng had no further questions and followed Vivian to Muyun's room. Sure enough, the werewolf girl was restlessly tossing and turning on the bed, seemingly in the final moments before waking up. She was still wearing her usual clothes, not even changing before bed—Vivian had brought her up, and of course, the vampire girl wasn't kind enough to help her change clothes. Now Lin Feng was spared the trouble.

Although he was actually looking forward to seeing the werewolf girl in her cool pajamas, it was impossible.

"Look, at the table legs," Vivian pointed to the table legs beside the bed, and Lin Feng twitch

ed at the sight of the wooden legs being chewed like candied haws, with a thick layer of sawdust on the floor nearby, and even wood shavings at the corners of Muyun's mouth...

There was no doubt that Muyun had dreamt of eating a big bone at home.

"Hey, big dog, get up and work!" Vivian rudely pushed Muyun off the bed. The latter fell to the ground with a thud, finally opening her eyes in a daze and looking at Lin Feng first, "Oh, landlord, breakfast?"

"Forget about that," Vivian pulled Muyun up, "Get ready, we're heading to the castle. You're not fully awake yet, just follow us. I'll tell you the details when you wake up there."

Muyun agreed vaguely, closed her eyes, stood up, and entered the olfactory tracking mode before completely falling asleep again. Just before falling asleep, she said, "Landlord, I dreamt that you stewed pork ribs for me. Pork ribs are so delicious~~"

Lin Feng: "..."

A moment later, the three of them had left the small inn without anyone noticing their movements, thanks to Vivian's black mist cover. As the inn was on the edge of town, they left shortly after leaving the inn, heading towards the endless wilderness. Lin Feng suddenly realized a problem, "They carpool... what about us?"

Vivian unfurled a pair of huge bat wings behind her, a brilliant smile on her face, "I'll fly you there, and let the big dog run below!"