The Intense Clash of Daily Routines

The stout uncle on TV was about fifty years old, just as Hao Ren had guessed. He was a local who lived on the outskirts of Brusar Town, the owner of a small inn there named Angus. He was the one who initially discovered the castle was haunted and spread the news.

The interview continued, and Hao Ren was completely captivated by the story. He didn't even notice Lily scratching him with her claws beside him; the werewolf girl couldn't understand a word and was becoming increasingly agitated.

"...That day, I was cleaning a room on the second floor, it was at night," Angus said, his face flushed with color in front of the camera. Although he was telling a ghost story, he seemed unusually excited. The recent haunting incidents had brought his inn widespread fame, which was a good thing for him. "My inn is on the edge of town, 'Angus's Cabin.' You'll definitely see it the first time you come off the highway. The row of windows at the back faces the direction of the old castle, but it's a long distance away, and you can't usually see the stones with the naked eye—but that night, behind the window, I saw the castle area engulfed in flames! There was no forest, no houses, just a pile of stones. I didn't know what was burning, but I still called 999..."

"Did many people see that light at the time?" the female host interjected, preventing Angus from going too far off-topic. He clearly wanted to stay in front of the camera for as long as possible, and his rambling was endless.

"Yes, many people. I saw lights on in many windows facing the castle direction in town," Angus nodded. "And the next day, it was confirmed that many people had seen the fire. But it only 'burned' for about ten minutes, and then it just disappeared as if it vanished. The forest fire department arrived to find nothing. They said there was only a pile of dry, cold stones, but I confirm I didn't make a false report. I'm an honest businessman. 'Angus's Cabin' has been operating for so many years based on honesty..."

"I heard you drove over to check things out yourself later, is that right?" the host quickly steered the conversation back.

"Yes, I came here many times after that, and I specifically chose to come at night," Angus finally showed a hint of fear on his face. "Then I encountered those strange things. Soldiers in full armor walked right in front of my headlights, there were loud, shouting guài sounds, my car inexplicably stalled, and I heard people speaking with very strange accents on the car radio... It was terrifying."

The host retracted her microphone and faced the camera: "The 'haunting stories' of Brusar are spreading more and more. More and more paranormal enthusiasts and adventurers are flocking to this small town, and even professional scholars studying electromagnetism, geology, and other fields are showing interest here..."

Hao Ren had lost interest in what was being said afterward. It was mostly nonsense, calling for people to believe in science while heavily discussing the haunting. Hao Ren casually turned off the TV and sat there, chin in his hand, like a deep thinker, lost in thought.

Lily finally became completely agitated. She jumped onto the sofa and vigorously scratched Hao Ren's shoulder: "Landlord, landlord, what did the TV say just now?"

"Our 'new friend'..." Hao Ren's voice was heavy. "Is most likely a ghost. Remember what Mr. Nangong said about the castle haunting? That's what the TV was talking about. If the locals aren't ganging up to fool tourists, then it's definitely related to the 'newcomer' Raven 12345 arranged. Tsk tsk, why is it such a troublesome guy right from the start?"

Vivian also hadn't understood what was being said on TV, but she could tell the situation from the scene: "Wait, if that's the case... there should be a lot of people near Yuefu'erde Castle now! And everyone is looking for ghosts in that area?!"

"Yeah, this is a big problem," Hao Ren sighed. "What I fear most is attracting attention. Who knows if the newcomer will be as easy to deal with as you guys... uh, I mean, sensible. If it turns out to be some reckless hothead who doesn't care about anything, it'll be a real spectacle."

Lily squatted on the sofa, tilted her head, and thought for a long time. Suddenly, she clapped her paws: "I'm sleepy, I'm going to sleep."

With that, the werewolf girl swaggered towards the room under the stunned gaze of Hao Ren and Vivian. It wasn't until she slammed the door shut that they reacted: the silly wolf hadn't adjusted to the time difference yet. It was bright daylight outside, but it was already her bedtime.

"I'm a bit sleepy too," the drowsiness was contagious. Seeing Lily go back to her room, the fatigue accumulated from Hao Ren's journey also spread. "I'll go back to my room and sleep for a bit. Aren't you sleepy?"

"My sleep schedule is different from yours anyway," Vivian shrugged. "And during the days I stayed at your place, I tried to match your schedule, so my biological clock is all messed up. I'm not sleepy right now."

"Alright, I'm going to sleep. If I don't wake up by evening, wake me up, and we'll go down for dinner. Lily probably won't wake up. She's a heavy sleeper—bring her some food up." As Hao Ren spoke, he stretched and walked towards his room. Vivian was left alone in the living room, staring blankly. The vampire girl looked at Lily's door, feeling incredibly sad: traveling was difficult, and tonight, she, a noble Blood Clan member, would have to sleep in the same den as a big dog...

Hao Ren slept until about eight or nine o'clock local time before waking up. Vivian said she didn't want to disturb him because he was sleeping so soundly. As Hao Ren had predicted, Lily, the silly werewolf who had no intention of adjusting to the time difference, slept very soundly. She didn't even react when Vivian walked around her.

Since they had things to do early the next morning, Hao Ren and Vivian ate a quick meal at the restaurant downstairs before returning to their rooms. Lily was still sleeping soundly, seemingly not planning to eat. Hao Ren placed the instant food he had brought up on the low table by Lily's bed and returned to his own room to rest. He was determined to adjust to the time difference by sleeping intensely for a full day. Vivian, being a vampire, had different sleep habits from humans, and she had also messed up her biological clock at Hao Ren's place. Therefore, she didn't feel sleepy until midnight. Well, at this point, I'm sure some clever people have guessed what happened at midnight. That's right, Lily woke up...

A normal person with a regular physiology, a werewolf who had no intention of adjusting to the time difference, and a vampire whose biological clock was in unprecedented chaos. This magical trio finally experienced a clash of their sleep schedules in this foreign land, eight time zones away: Hao Ren and Vivian were awake while Lily was sleeping; when Vivian finally felt sleepy, Lily became energetic; meanwhile, during two-thirds of the time Hao Ren was sleeping, Vivian was very energetic; and when Vivian and Lily were both awake, Hao Ren was still asleep. Don't try to figure out the correspondence of their waking hours by drawing a timetable or connection diagram, because it's so messed up that even they can't figure it out! Their sleeping times were nested with each other in two-thirds and three-quarters ratios. Basically, when one person in the trio was sleeping, at least one other person was wandering around the house like a ghost...

The next morning, Hao Ren emerged from his room with messy hair, looking listless. He was met by Vivian, whose eyes were bloodshot. As soon as she saw Hao Ren, the vampire girl complained: "Hao Ren! I'm never sleeping in the same room as that big dog again! She jumped up in the middle of the night screaming that she wanted breakfast and paced around my bed in the dark for two hours!"

Hao Ren estimated he was the one with the best sleep quality among the three. He had slept for nearly ten hours in total, and by the end, he was almost indistinguishable from someone in a coma. He looked at Vivian with groggy eyes: "Uh... I felt really cold in the room last night. Turning off the air conditioning didn't help. Do you know why?"

Vivian blushed: "Uh, the first half of the night I couldn't sleep, so I did two sets of slimming exercises in the living room. Maybe I wasn't careful."

Hao Ren suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He thought about how terrifying last night had been: in the first half of the night, a vampire was doing exercises silently in the living room, and in the latter half, a werewolf was patrolling the room opposite theirs in the dark for two hours!

What happened in the room that night was only one step away from a supernatural tale, just missing a film crew!