Anomalous Creatures

"I found something," Weilili said, snapping her fingers lightly. Kevin then saw a thin black mist spreading from the corner of the room. The mist quickly condensed into several small bats, flying around Weilili's shoulders.

Kevin had spent some time living with the two female superheroes, and he was no longer surprised by such surreal things, especially Lily's tail and Weilili's bats. He played with one of the bats that flew in front of him, studying what was different about it from natural bats, and curiously asked, "What did you find?"

"Hey, don't move around. These bats are my avatars, and we share senses," Weilili waved her hand to swat Kevin's hand away and then looked in a certain direction outside the window. "I sent a few bats to the castle and did find something unusual—the scent of undead. It's at least a few hundred years old, and there are quite a few of them."

Kevin immediately felt a shiver run down his spine. Although he had prepared adequately and was even prepared for his new tenant to be an undead, hearing this news still made him feel a bit chilly. "They really exist? Quite a few of them? Raven 12345 said there was only one person... Should we pick one and take it away?"

"Let's not talk about that for now. I found that the undead aura over there is different from the ghost stories we heard outside," Weilili shook her head. "The undead aura at the castle is suppressed underground. My bats noticed it when they drilled into a collapsed tunnel. Although I haven't found the source or the underground entrance, I can confirm that the suppression environment is still intact. Theoretically... there shouldn't be any vengeful spirits or the like rising to the surface right now."

Kevin thought for a moment and quickly figured out what was wrong. "So there are really ghosts at the castle, but they are all suppressed. Normally, there shouldn't be any ghostly incidents near the castle? Then what about the ghost reports from people around here..."

"It's hard to say what's going on. If it's an overly powerful undead, it can indeed affect ordinary people within a certain range nearby with its own spirit alone, even when sealed, causing them to see hallucinations or believe in false memories. But such powerful undead haven't appeared for many years... They should theoretically have been cleaned up by demon hunters."

Kevin frowned and spread his hands. "What kind of thing is this? A normal person like me actually has to get involved in this kind of thing."

He was just about to say something else when he suddenly saw Weilili's face change. He immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"That Nangong seems to be preparing to leave," Weilili frowned. "I still have a bat hanging outside his window. I saw him packing that box of 'tools'... He pushed the door open and left!"

"This late?" Kevin was surprised. "He's really dedicated. He's going out to 'work' right after arriving here. Does this demon hunter actually have some skills?"

Kevin had initially thought that Nangong was most likely a ghost-expelling swindler. Even if he knew a little about demon hunters, he wouldn't be a real professional (judging from his high-profile demeanor, he didn't seem like one). However, he didn't expect Nangong to be so dedicated that he would head out to work right after arriving, despite the fatigue from his journey. Such professionalism was not something an ordinary ghost-expelling swindler would possess.

Weilili didn't say anything. She immediately ran to the window and looked downstairs, beckoning Kevin to come over. "Come and take a look. He's already left. I'm curious about how he plans to get to the castle. The castle is dozens of kilometers away from here. He's an outsider and definitely doesn't have a car. And at this hour, it's impossible to find a taxi willing to drive to such a remote area. Does he really know some secret techniques of demon hunters?"

Kevin the windowsill next to Weilili and saw Nangong standing at the entrance of the hotel, seemingly in a daze. Instead of carrying his huge suitcase, he was holding a smaller black box. Dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, he looked like an ordinary businessman on a short trip. Just as Weilili had said, Nangong was also an outsider with no connections here, and naturally no convenient transportation. How did he plan to get to the castle dozens of kilometers away in the middle of the night?

"If he's a real demon hunter, it's very easy for him to reach speeds of over a hundred kilometers per hour. Some demon hunters can even fly for short periods or teleport over short distances," Weilili frowned. "He's making strange gestures in a certain direction. Does he really know some secret techniques?"

Kevin's mind was suddenly filled with specialized terms like "reducing distance to an inch," "riding the wind forward," "wolf spirit protection," and "ancestral spirit." In his mind, Nangong was about to rise from the ground on a cloud of auspicious mist. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised if a magic circle suddenly appeared around the small hotel. However, the next moment, he saw a car coming out from behind the hotel. Angus, the fat hotel owner, was driving it out. Nangong nodded at Angus and got into the car. Then, a monk-dressed Indian and a European man dressed like Batman successively got into the car from the hotel. Kevin clearly saw them all taking out their wallets to chip in before getting into the car...

Weilili awkwardly opened her mouth, "Uh, carpooling... It seems that the hotel owner has started a new business recently."

Kevin: "...I was also overthinking just now."

It seemed that the haunted castle nearby had attracted many strange people, even foreigners. It was unknown how these paranormal enthusiasts from around the world had such great mobility. Perhaps they usually didn't do anything else but keep an eye on where on earth there were haunted places.

After Angus left with the three ghost-expelling professionals from different countries, Weilili nudged Kevin's arm, "Let's follow them. We'll take action tonight."

Kevin was puzzled, "Didn't you say to stay as far away from demon hunters as possible and try not to meet Nangong?"

"I've changed my mind now. What if there are actually a few people among these ghost-expelling professionals who have real skills and find the new tenant earlier than us? And there will definitely be more people coming in the future. We can't wait for this trend to die down by itself; who knows how many days that will take? The longer the night, the more dreams."

Kevin thought it made sense, but he glanced at the door with some concern. "I've had enough sleep. It's fine if I don't sleep today, but we still have Sleeping Beauty here. Lily won't wake up until midnight. Should we bring her along?"

Weilili checked her watch. "It's okay. She's about to wake up. We can barely wake her up now. She has a magical ability to follow us around while sleeping. By the time she gets to the castle, she'll be fully awake. How convenient is that?"

Kevin had no further questions and followed Weilili to Lily's room. Indeed, the werewolf girl was restlessly tossing and turning in bed, seemingly making her last few flips before waking up. She was still wearing her usual clothes; the vampire girl certainly didn't have the kindness to help her change. Now Kevin was spared the trouble.

Although he was quite looking forward to bumping into the werewolf girl in a cool pajama like in the mainstream plot, it was impossible.

"Look, the table leg." Weilili pointed to the table beside the bed. Kevin's eyes twitched as he saw that the wooden table leg had been chewed up like a Tanghulu. A thick layer of sawdust was scattered on the nearby floor, and wood chips could be seen on Lily's lips...

Without a doubt, Lily had dreamed of eating a big bone at home earlier.

"Hey, big dog, get up and start working!" Weilili roughly pushed Lily out of bed. She fell to the ground with a thud and finally opened her eyes half-asleep. The first thing she saw was Kevin and said, "Oh, landlord, breakfast?"

"Eat your head!" Weilili pulled Lily up. "Get ready to leave for the castle. You're not fully awake yet. Just follow us and run. I'll tell you the details when you wake up over there."

Lily blurrily agreed and closed her eyes, entering the scent-following mode again. Before she completely fell asleep, she said, "Landlord, I just dreamed that you cooked pork ribs for me. The pork ribs were so delicious~~"

Kevin: "..."

A moment later, the three of them had left the small hotel unnoticed. With Weilili's black fog as cover, ordinary people couldn't detect their movements. Since the hotel was on the edge of the town, they left the town soon after coming out of the hotel. Looking at the endless wilderness in front of them, Kevin suddenly realized a problem. "They carpooled... What about us?"

Weilili suddenly unfolded a pair of huge bat wings behind her and smiled brightly. "I'll fly with you. Let the big dog run below!"