Chapter 42 (1/2)
Whether Mr. Nangong was a real demon hunter, a very experienced swindler or a delusional crackpot (chances of him being that were not that high), neither Hao Ren nor Vivian could come to a conclusion after hours of discussion.
Vivian said she had an instinctual reaction to demon hunters, owing it to her hand injury. However, she concurred that her instincts may or may not have been right. As such, it could not be used as concrete evidence against him. As for Lily, he may as well just forget about it. She had never even met a demon hunter before. Lily was like a baby in Vivian’s eyes and if they were assaulted by a demon hunter, she doubted Lily would be able to react in an effective manner at all.
According to Vivian’s explanation, demon hunters were quite literally part human part monsters. They were able to unleash supernatural abilities during combat and even mutate depending on the situation. Not forgetting, their ability to blend into the crowd like normal humans without giving away any aura or scent, which could have exposed them. That ability was a trump card demon hunters had against the supernaturals.
How Nangong carried himself felt wrong to Vivian.It was unlike a demon hunter. The way he boasted about his job so openly differed a lot from the demon hunters who plagued her in the past. Nevertheless, she could not totally discount the fact that he was the real deal given that she had never met one in ages. Even the ones she had met comprised just a small group among a vast group of hunters. She did not know them particularly well and her memory was no different than a senile old woman. Not to mention her streak of bad luck… Hao Ren really hoped that her bad luck did not rub off on him for them to meet a real demon hunter on the first day of the mission.
This left Hao Ren pretty nervous.
The three of them were pretty listless in England, given their unfamiliarity with the place. While they had solved the issue regarding the language barrier, the journey itself had taken a toll of them and even Lily was too lazy to move about. So, they went back to the hotel after lunch. Lily was now slouched on the lounge sofa fiddling with the TV remote. She seemed to be enjoying herself despite not being able to understand a single word. Vivian on the other hand, was doing something surprisingly useful: She had taken out the cash stock Hao Ren had prepared for the trip. She was counting them over and over again.
Hao Ren looked at Vivian alarmingly and and sat as close to her as possible. He stared at Vivian’s thin, pale hands without blinking. He was afraid that if he moved his attention away, the pile of cash would just disappear into thin air due to her bad luck. Hao Ren had realized the gravity of Vivian’s bad luck with money and ‘bad luck’ was a serious understatement when describing the facts of the matter. It was almost like the will of the universe or an effect of the laws of nature. Allowing Vivian to touch money would trigger an adverse psychological reaction in him.
Vivian was eagerly counting the stack of cash. Then, she sighed. “Haihhh… It’s really a rare moment to be able to be spendthrift… So, this is how counting money feels like… Following Mr. Landlord was the right choice… Uh… Can you stop being so fidgety, Mr. Landlord?”
“I told you that you can just call me Hao Ren when we’re outside.” Hao Ren gave Vivian a frozen smile. “Sides, I have my reasons for being nervous. By the Gods, if I looked away for one moment, you could somehow lose all of our spending money. Can you do something more productive? At first, I was wondering why you emptied my wallet. You’re just gonna sit here and count money?”
“Could you possibly even understand the feeling of someone who’s been broke for millennia?” Vivian took a long, deep sigh. “The last time I had the chance to count money like this was during the Republic era. I was carrying a gunny sack to buy rice and I actually stood by the doorway to count the silver notes… but… it doesn’t feel as good as now. Paper then was as good as waste paper. They don’t hold water to how this British pound feels. Humph! I’m done counting this stack. Let me count it again… Oh come on Hao Ren, just let me count it one more time, please!”
Hao Ren adamantly decided to put the cash back into his wallet and into his pocket. He went, “My dear Ms. Vampire, if you really want to count money, we’ll go to Zimbabwe someday so that you can count your heart out. As of now… please do something useful for once… Say, about that demon hunter stuff, why are you no longer nervous about it?”