None of them are normal.

Vivian cooking was quite surprising to Hao Ren. After all, she was a genuine Vampire. Think about how vampires live in movies and TV shows: red capes, black suits, twenty-thousand-square-meter castles by the sea, legions of servants, and overflowing jewelry chests. They sleep from 6 AM to 8:30 PM, wake up for a bottle of 1982 blood plasma, invite all their friends for a street dance until midnight (though they call it a ball), then stand on the balcony with a glass of wine, looking pretentious until dawn before going back to sleep. That's the life of a proper vampire – low-key, luxurious, and profound. But Vivian, this incredibly poor vampire, was an exception. Not only did she not need blood to sustain herself, but she could also eat Hao Ren's crudely made boiled noodles. She could even cook using a human gas stove…

Just thinking about it was enough to be astonishing.

But it wasn't until Vivian brought the dishes to the table that Hao Ren realized he had been surprised too early.

Vivian's cooking skills were actually quite good, but the dishes were rather baffling: garlic eggplant, garlic beans, garlic mixed with vermicelli. They were all visually appealing and aromatic, filling the entire living room with a strong scent of garlic. Hao Ren felt like he was swimming in an ocean of garlic. And the supposed vampire sat down by the table and casually popped a clove of garlic into her mouth… Even ordinary people couldn't handle this way of eating!

Hao Ren and Lily stared at each other, dumbfounded, then they both looked at Vivian in unison and said, "Are you really a vampire?!"

Vivian immediately composed her expression and sat up straight, "Please call me Blood Clan. This is a very serious question…"

"Can you stop being so dramatic about this?" Hao Ren said, while internally wondering how much more of his worldview needed to be rebuilt. "Don't Blood Clans not fear garlic? You're practically eating garlic like it's your main meal!"

Vivian looked down at the dishes on the table and then suddenly understood. "Oh, you mean this? Ordinary Blood Clans don't really like it. Lower-level vampires even get sick from the smell of garlic. But I don't know why… I'm not afraid of it. When life was at its hardest, even normal eating was a problem. Who cares about taste then?"

Hao Ren was speechless. He then touched his nose. "I've always wanted to ask, how can you, a dignified Blood Clan, be so poor?"

"How should I know? Anyway, my luck has never been good since I can remember. When there was no currency, I'd lose things. When shells were currency, I'd lose shells. When it was metal currency, I'd lose coins. Now I'm losing banknotes. Finding a job is difficult, and doing business is difficult. Back then, I decided to be a bad person and rob someone, but I ended up giving her six pounds because I felt sorry for her…" Vivian spread her hands, her face showing resignation after centuries of bad luck. But as she spoke, she suddenly remembered something and looked proud. She started fumbling around her body and after a moment, pulled out a pair of shiny silver armbands. "Actually, I do have a few good things. Look at this. Even when I was at my poorest, I wouldn't trade it for money. This is a pure silver armband I found in a small village in Egypt a few hundred years ago. Wearing it on your arm can ward off evil…"

Hao Ren: "..."

Vivian then pulled a small chain from her collar, with a cross hanging from it. "This I got near the Vatican. For a while, I was living in Europe, my wallet was stolen, I lost my job, and my lodging caught fire. I was penniless and had nowhere to go, so I had to help out at a church for food. Because I was quick with my hands, the priest gave me this cross. It's said to be personally blessed by the Pope, and it can ward off evil~~"

"And this, this piece of wood I got from Mount Wutai a few years ago. An old Taoist priest gave it to me. It can ward off evil!"

"And this amulet, I got it from a group of Vikings hundreds of years ago. I helped them with a small favor. This amulet is very effective, wearing it can ward off evil!"

"In short, I've figured out a pattern: if I carry money, I'll definitely lose it. But ever since humans started using currency, things I carry with me don't get lost… This must be the fault of the great cosmic will!"

Hao Ren silently put down his bowl, pinched his thigh hard to confirm he wasn't dreaming, and then glared at Vivian. "Repeat yourself, are you really a vampire?!"

"How many times have I told you, I'm not a vampire, you should call me Blood… Ah, never mind. Humans often get it wrong anyway," Vivian waved her hand generously. "Landlord, why are you so fixated on this?"

Hao Ren looked at this "vampire" who was adorned with all sorts of talismans (and by the way, she was only wearing a thin black dress earlier, where did she hide all this stuff?) with his worldview shattered. He felt like he was about to have a heart attack. "You ward off evil?! You yourself are 'evil'! With all these things you're wearing, how many vampires could you kill!"

"I don't know why," Vivian said righteously. "Anyway, I haven't been afraid of these things since I was born! And maybe wearing these things can drive away my bad luck – if not, it can at least give me some courage."

Lily quickly finished the food in her bowl like a puppy, then looked up and mumbled, "As a vampire, wearing a bunch of crosses and amulets for courage, how embarrassing."

This idiot wasn't surprised at all! Her focus was truly unique…

In any case, dinner ended in a bizarre atmosphere. Hao Ren got to know one of his abnormal tenants better: Vivian. Not only was she a poor vampire, but she was also a vampire who wasn't afraid of garlic, silver, crosses, or even various global evil-warding talismans. This magical creature even specifically wore at least six pounds of amulets to try and reverse her bad luck – did you hear that unit of measurement? Pounds! From that, you can imagine how many trinkets she was carrying around…

After dinner, everyone had their own things to do. This temporarily assembled "supernatural combination" ushered in its first truly peaceful and normal day (before this, they were either fighting or Hao Ren wasn't home). A human landlord (possibly a Time-Space Administration Bureau employee), a ditzy werewolf, a vampire on the verge of death, and let's not forget a black and white cat named "Gun." Hao Ren himself felt it was a miracle that all these tenants could end up together in one house.

Now Lily was squatting in the living room watching TV. Yes, squatting in the living room watching TV, her posture similar to a puppy's. "Gun" was squatting next to her, and the two of them looked like sisters. It seemed that the ditzy werewolf was finally getting used to the cat, although she was still a bit timid. Whenever "Gun" made the slightest move, Lily would respectfully and quickly change the channel. But at least she wasn't hiding behind the sofa like yesterday.

Vivian, on the other hand, went out for a walk with great spirits. As a nocturnal creature, Vivian's biological clock became active after sunset. She decided to fly to the city to see if she could find a job… Hao Ren could slightly understand why this vampire was so poor and couldn't find a job. Would it kill her to adjust her biological clock a little? Going out to look for a job in the middle of the night, was her brain faulty?

After Vivian transformed into a giant bat and blended into the night, Hao Ren also carried his lounge chair to the open space outside. This place was sparsely populated, which meant an exceptionally quiet environment. There was a large open space in front of the small apartment building that had not been occupied by anyone yet, so it had implicitly become Hao Ren's "territory." After dinner, Hao Ren decided to follow his habit of coming here to enjoy the cool breeze and contemplate life under the quiet night sky. This environment was much healthier than the air conditioning indoors.

Of course, the main reason was that he really didn't want to be alone with Lily for too long, for fear of losing IQ… Could you believe that ditzy werewolf was watching a dog food commercial? Hao Ren felt that even if he hid in his bedroom, separated by a wall, he would still lose a third of his intelligence!

The summer nights in the northern cities were much cooler than in the south. Hao Ren unfolded his lounge chair in his usual spot and lay down, listening to the distant human voices and insect chirps faintly mixed together, gradually feeling drowsy.

In a semi-conscious state, he seemed to feel an unusual gentle breeze brush against his cheek.

This breeze was fresh and slightly cool, completely lacking the rough feeling of human activity in modern cities. This breeze made Hao Ren, who was almost asleep, suddenly wake up. He abruptly sat up – and the lounge chair immediately retracted and clamped him.

But he had already seen the strange situation around him.