Brusar

It was already six o'clock. Hao Ren hurriedly washed his face, dispelling the lingering grogginess from having slept for more than ten hours, then headed to the restaurant on the first floor with Vivian, who was brimming with resentment from not having rested properly. The two of them were followed by Lily, who looked like a wandering ghost: the werewolf girl had been wide awake since the middle of the night, and now it was finally her "nap time" again. She was so sleepy she looked like a dead dog.

Hao Ren sincerely felt that it was amazing for someone's biological clock to be this powerful.

"Landlord, I want to sleep... I want lunch too, and I want to lie on the floor and rest..." Lily followed behind Hao Ren, muttering weakly. She looked exactly like a dead dog that had played itself tired and refused to move from beside its owner's feet. Even Vivian didn't dare say that outright at a time like this: Lily's pride as a "werewolf" was exceptionally strong. Even in her current sleepwalking state, if you compared her to a domestic dog, she would still leap up and bite you full of tooth marks. Not even three layers of stab-resistant vests could withstand one bite from her.

"You should be eating breakfast at this hour." Hao Ren glanced at the morning light outside the restaurant, which had yet to brighten completely, and helplessly reminded the muddleheaded werewolf beside him. London had long since escaped its plight as an industrial fog city, but the area's foggy mornings, heavy clouds, and changeable weather hadn't changed. The weather wasn't very good today. Although the sun had already risen, the sky outside still looked somewhat gloomy, and the next few hours would bring either thick fog or overcast skies.

"Look, he's over there." Vivian suddenly tugged on Hao Ren's sleeve and pointed at a conspicuous table outside the restaurant. "That 'Nangong.' He's pretty punctual. I never expected someone connected to Demon Hunters to be this reliable. Tsk, tsk."

Because Nangong might have some connection to Demon Hunters to one degree or another—there was even a one-percent chance that he was the "real deal"—Vivian instinctively felt displeased whenever he was around. It wasn't quite hostility yet, but she certainly wouldn't be smiling warmly when mentioning him behind his back.

"After watching yesterday's television, I suddenly feel like there's no need for us to travel with this dangerous fellow at all," Hao Ren said hesitantly. "There are people everywhere around Yuefu'erde Castle, all of them going there to look for ghosts. Do we really still need a guide?"

"Of course we do." Vivian rolled her eyes at Hao Ren. "Do you know how to get from London to Brusar?"

Hao Ren froze. He had genuinely forgotten about that.

At that moment, Mr. Nangong had also spotted the three of them. He immediately waved and greeted them, looking extremely amiable. Hao Ren saw that turning around and leaving would no longer be practical, so he led Vivian and Lily over. "Good morning."

"Morning. You didn't arrive late either." Nangong smiled faintly, then looked somewhat startled at Lily, who was swaying behind Hao Ren with her eyes closed. "Uh, what's wrong with this girl?"

"She hasn't adjusted to the time difference. She's taking her noon nap right now." Hao Ren shrugged helplessly. "Are we leaving now, or should we eat here first?"

Nangong said there was no rush and that waiting another ten or twenty minutes wouldn't make them miss the train. Hao Ren promptly decided to fill their stomachs first. The hotel provided every guest with a free breakfast buffet, and he had to get his money's worth before checking out. Lily was growing sleepier by the second and looked close to losing consciousness entirely, but miraculously, even in this state, the werewolf girl didn't let it interfere with eating. Hao Ren prepared a plate of food according to Lily's usual diet, and Lily finished every last bite with her eyes closed, relying entirely on her sense of smell. She didn't leave behind so much as a vegetable stem...

Nangong watched in astonishment from the side, which made Hao Ren and Vivian tense. They were afraid that this self-proclaimed Demon Hunter would see through Lily's inhuman nature from her peculiar behavior. As it turned out, Nangong was either a charlatan or a complete amateur—he merely marveled at what he saw and never once imagined that the "demon" he was supposed to hunt was sitting right beside him.

After breakfast, the group completed the checkout procedures at the front desk, took their luggage, and left the hotel. Hao Ren, Vivian, and Lily actually didn't have much luggage between them—just one large travel bag. Normally, something like that should have been carried by the man present, but Vivian unceremoniously tied the whole bag onto Lily. The latter suddenly found herself carrying dozens of kilograms while half-awake, yet she somehow remained asleep! With her eyes shut, she was treated like a laborer by Vivian and followed behind Hao Ren by scent, just as she had the day before.

"Her only advantage is that she's strong. It would be such a waste of talent not to have her carry it." Seeing the odd expression on Hao Ren's face, Vivian waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry. She's perfectly happy about it—although she's asleep right now."

Hao Ren felt deeply uncomfortable. Seeing Lily asleep as she carried the luggage of three people behind them, walking like a wronged little wife—purely a product of his imagination—he finally couldn't stand it anymore. He stepped forward and moved the bag onto his own back. "Forget it. Stop bullying her."

Lily opened her eyes blearily, somehow still aware of what had happened. "Thanks, Landlord. I'm not tired..."

Vivian snorted. "What a baffling male chauvinist mindset. After all these years, have you men made no progress at all?"

Hao Ren gave an awkward laugh and glanced at Nangong beside him. This tall, thin man who claimed to be a Demon Hunter had far more luggage than the three of them combined. He truly lived up to his reputation as someone who traveled around the world every few days. His luggage alone was larger than the travel bag on Hao Ren's back: an enormous suitcase that looked both sturdy and heavy, even larger than the one Lily had dragged when she first came to their home. As he pulled it along the cement road, it made a thunderous racket. Heaven knew what he had packed inside.

"What's in that suitcase of yours?" Vivian truly lived up to the saying that age brought wisdom—though she absolutely couldn't let her hear that—and immediately put on the appearance of an innocent young girl as she asked curiously.

"It's all for 'work.'" Nangong dragged the enormous suitcase, yet somehow retained his neat and refined bearing. With his white shirt and black trousers, he looked like a successful businessman rushing to a meeting, even while pulling a suitcase half his height behind him. "I use these things to fight evil. This suitcase has suppressed at least three hundred demons and evil spirits."

"A real Demon Hunter wouldn't need so many tools." Vivian returned to Hao Ren's side and lowered her voice. "They're weapons themselves. Looks like we can relax."

What Hao Ren was thinking at that moment, however, was: Why could the difference between two men's appearances be so enormous? Nangong dragged such a huge suitcase and looked like a businessman on his way to a meeting, while Hao Ren, carrying a travel bag, looked like he was on his way to demand unpaid wages...

And so, the two parties, each harboring their own schemes—is that even the right way to use the idiom?—embarked on their journey to the town of Brusar. In any case, having an experienced professional who traveled frequently and knew the roads well saved them a great deal of trouble. With Nangong's help, Hao Ren and the other two finally avoided getting lost in London's ancient, tangled streets and smoothly boarded the train to their destination.

The journey was uneventful. The four of them bounced along on the train for an entire day.

With a stranger beside them, Hao Ren and Vivian couldn't discuss too many confidential matters, making the journey especially dull. The only thing worth mentioning was that Lily woke from her "nap" halfway through the trip, then spent half the day fidgeting in her train seat. By the time the train was nearing its destination, she began growing sleepy again. She had been so excited before leaving, yet after arriving in Britain, she had done nothing but sleep and stare blankly into space. Even the little free time she had was spent swaying along on the train.

By the time the train arrived at the small Brusar station, dusk was nearly upon them. Only a few people got off there. Apparently, not everyone was interested in traveling to such a remote backwater to dabble in ghosts. Hao Ren followed the familiar announcement in his native language onto the station platform, only to discover that the place was even more remote and desolate than he had imagined.

The railway station was extremely small, with only two tracks passing through it, one of which had been abandoned. The land surrounding the tiny station was mostly barren, with yellowish-brown gravel and rubble filling the view. The only greenery consisted of wild grasses, shrubs, and other plants growing untidily in the wind. The small town of Brusar could be seen not far from the station. Its buildings were somewhat old, and the entire town was so small that it was almost a village.

Hao Ren had no idea how this town had been built. It was actually located in such a godforsaken place. The local feng shui reminded him of Heaven's Earth Branch Office—in other words, Wangba Tuozi.

Nangong sniffed the air, his face showing interest. "I can smell the presence of a 'big one.'"