Chapter 47 (1/2)

“I’ve found something.” Vivian snapped her fingers and a thin layer of fog started to form at a corner of the room. The fog quickly converged and transformed into bats, flying above and over Vivian’s shoulders.

For all the time spent with the two superwomen, Hao Ren had seen enough of their supernatural tricks; especially Lily’s doggy tail and Vivian’s pet bats. He played with one of the little bats, studying it and looking for differences from wild bats. “What did you find?” Hao Ren asked.

“Leave the bats alone. They’re duplicates of me. They share my senses,” Vivian warned Hao Ren as she smacked away his hand. “I sent the bats out to the castle ruins. Something is in there—the aura of wraiths, of hundreds of years… and lots of them too.”

A chill rushed down Hao Ren’s spine. Although he had been expecting his tenant to be a wraith, he could not help but shiver at the mention of the spooky thing. “Really? Lots of them? Raven 12345 told me there was only one tenant. Now what? Pick one?”

“Hold your horse, Hao Ren. The wraiths’ aura isn’t the same as the usual stuff we know of.” Vivian shook her head. “These ones are buried underground and were discovered only when the bats went into a caved-in underground tunnel. I found no entrance or specific source of the aura but, I’m sure the wraiths are still contained in a completely intact environment. So, we can deduce from here that there should be no spirits roaming freely on the surface.

Hao Ren quickly collected his thoughts and came to a conclusion. “If the ghosts were already contained and buried underground, there shouldn’t have been any movement in the castle. So, the sightings of paranormal activities…”

“There’s another possibility. If the wraiths’ power is strong enough, their aura could have been felt and seen by ordinary folks on the surface, causing hallucinations or even memory distortions. However, it’s been donkey’s years since such strong phenomenon last happened. I think the demon hunters would have cleaned up the place a long time ago.”

Hao Ren spread his hands in a self-deprecating gesture. “Why am I being dragged into this?”

But he noticed that the expression on Vivian’s face changed. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nangong is moving.” Vivivan frowned. “I have a bat hanging outside his window. I can see him prepping his gears… he’s gone out!”

“At this time of the night?” Hao Ren was slightly surprised. “This guy’s an eager beaver. He just got here! I think this demon hunter is really something.”

All the while, Hao Ren had not really taken Nangong seriously. Even if Nangong knew a thing or two about demon hunters, he could not have been anywhere near a pro (judging from his high-profile conduct). So, Hao Ren did not expect the guy to be so commited,. It was not a quality a charlatan would normally possess.

Vivian ran toward the windows without saying a word. She gestured Hao Ren to come over. “See? He’s coming out of the door. I wonder how he’s going to the castle. The castle is at least dozens of kilometers away; this dude isn’t a local and certainly doesn’t have a car. Moreover, no cab would ever want to go to that place at this time of the night. Does he know some kind of magic?”

Hao Ren and Vivian rested their hands on the ledge as they peeked out from behind the window. Nangong arrived and stood stiffly at the entrance of the lodge. Instead of a huge suitcase, Nangong was carrying a smaller one―black in color. He was in his customary white top and black pants, which the standard description of a salesperson. As Vivian had analyzed before, Nangong was not a local and he did not drive. How was he going to reach the castle dozens of kilometers away at that hour of the night?

“Demon hunters can move at a speed in excess of 100km/h and some can even perform short-distance flight as well as near-field teleportation.” Vivian frowned as she continued, “He’s making some weird hand gestures now. Does he really possess the power of magic?”

Hao Ren’s mind was running wild as he imagined the kind of tricks Nangong was going to pull off—Windwalking, Warg Possession, Ancestral Spirits and whatnot. He would not have been surprised at all if a magic circle had popped up out of nowhere. However, his jaw-dropped when a car pulled out from the garage behind the lodge. Angus, the fat owner of Angus’ Lodge was behind the wheel. As the car pulled up in front of the entrance, Nangong nodded at Angus. At the same time, an Indian guy in a full monk’s robe and a burly European in a Batman suit had walked out from the lodge, tailing Nangong into the car. Hao Ren could clearly see that they were chipping in for the fare…

Vivian said sheepishly, “Car-pooling… it seems like the lodge’s owner is branching out into the transportation business.”