Chapter 1 The Beginning

It seemed Vivian was right. Although the Yoford haunting incident had attracted quite a few paranormal enthusiasts from out of town, it hadn't yet reached peak tourist season, and this small hotel still had three empty rooms—which was to say, only three empty rooms.

Ideally, they would have had four rooms so that Hao Ren, his two companions, and Nangong could each have a room to themselves without disturbing each other. But as it stood, Vivian and Lily would have to bunk together for the night. The vampire girl was filled with resentment at this prospect: she had noticed Lily already standing and snoring, so she was one hundred percent certain that the werewolf girl would perk up in the middle of the night and start rampaging around the room just like last night. Staying with this jet-lagged creature meant no decent sleep.

After getting their room keys, Nangong saw there was no one at the counter and leaned against it, chatting with the portly owner: "Hello, I've seen you on TV. Mr. Angus, right? I hear there's a haunted castle around here?"

"Oh, your English is very good, much better than that Indian monk upstairs," the portly owner beamed. As a hotelier, he had the easygoing nature that suited his profession, able to chat with people from all over the world. "You're here for the castle too? It's the biggest news around here lately. Hey, that castle was almost forgotten before. If it weren't for the recent haunting, people probably wouldn't even remember the old name of Yoford. But it's a pretty big ruin, and after this, it'll probably become a popular tourist attraction."

"I'm an expert in this field," Nangong said, straightening his collar with great solemnity. "I'm from China, a professional demon hunter. I'm here to eliminate the evil spirits in the castle."

Hao Ren couldn't help but whisper to Vivian, "This guy really is high-profile with everyone. He tells anyone and everyone."

The vampire girl grunted noncommittally, then, using her shoulder to prop up Lily, who was staggering and looked about ready to crawl on all fours, greeted Hao Ren: "I'll take this one upstairs first. Come up as soon as you're done chatting. We need to discuss something."

Vivian dragged Lily upstairs, while the portly owner looked at Nangong in amazement: "Oh, indeed from mysterious China—but I thought your ghost-catching experts were called... what was it, Daoists?"

The portly owner was actually a bit of a China expert; he pronounced "Daoist" in very clear Chinese.

This time, Nangong didn't bother explaining the demon hunter thing. He just smiled and shook his head: "I'm not a Daoist, although I do know their ghost-exorcising techniques. By the way, if you have time, could you tell me the story of Yoford Castle? We're very interested in it."

The portly owner was immediately delighted. His plump body moved surprisingly nimbly as he squeezed out from behind the counter and dragged Nangong and Hao Ren to a long table beside it where guests could take a break: "Of course, of course. Let's sit down and talk slowly. I've been telling these stories to people for the past few days. Where do you want to start?"

"Uh, just start from the beginning, from the castle's original story," Hao Ren said, finding the portly owner's enthusiasm a little amusing, feeling like the guy was a tour guide who hadn't had a customer in half a year suddenly running into a goldmine. "I don't know anything about the castle. I didn't even know exactly where it was before I came."

The portly owner was first surprised: "Oh my! Your English is even better than mine..."

Hao Ren: "...Ahem, let's get down to business, down to business."

Then the portly owner began to tell the story of the castle in detail. He spoke vividly, with detailed descriptions. Starting from when an English nobleman established his territory here hundreds of years ago, he spent more than ten minutes just talking about the nobleman's family history, full of love, hate, and dramatic ups and downs, turning a rural lord into something like a Knight of the Round Table. In the portly owner's description, the nobleman and his family lived in Old Yoford for less than two hundred years. In those two hundred years, they experienced the rise and fall of their family, experienced the power struggles with the court, experienced rebellions in their territory and wars from outside, and finally the entire family fell apart under the infighting of three heirs. The eldest of the last generation of heirs died on the throne of the castle, the second son died in a rebel battle, and the youngest son disappeared, leaving behind countless legends—and then the once-prosperous Yoford Castle became the biggest demolition project in the area.

"The Yoford territory was once very prosperous, but it was completely abandoned in an internal rebellion. Many knights and soldiers died inside and outside the castle. Some of their bodies were buried by later generations, but it is said that many people's bones have not been found. Those soldiers were trapped in the castle's underground passages and basements. After the lord's family died, no one knew in detail how many hidden rooms were down there, so the soldiers who died in the basements and passages could not be buried," the portly owner clicked his tongue, his tone becoming eerie. "It is said that these soldiers who could not be buried became vengeful spirits. They were trapped underground by the rebels, forced to listen to their lord being killed above their heads, so they were filled with hatred..."

Hao Ren looked at Angus's expressive fat face, feeling that this uncle must have been a fallen tour guide in his previous life.

"The castle has underground passages and basements? A large-scale one?" Hao Ren asked curiously. Before Angus could answer, Nangong explained, "That's normal. Castles in that era were not just residences for nobles, but also the last fortresses for dealing with war. Generally, there would be very large cellars and interconnected secret passages underground. Some castles would even have tunnels dug out that could cross the entire territory, allowing the lord to escape to a safe distance in an emergency."

Angus nodded, indicating that what Nangong said made sense. Then he added, "Most of the tunnels have collapsed, and Yoford Castle has been forgotten for so many years that no one has really explored the situation there, so no one knows how many secrets are hidden beneath it."

"Have you really seen a ghost?" Hao Ren looked at the portly owner's ruddy face, unable to suppress his curiosity. His complexion really didn't look like someone who had dealt with ghosts—who is so happy after encountering a ghost?

"Of course I've seen one!" The portly owner's voice suddenly rose. "You're not the first person to doubt me, but I can swear on the Bible that I saw the ghosts of knights and mysterious lights near the castle... Oh, it was a terrible night, but it has brought me so many customers now, so I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing."

Seeing the portly owner's excited appearance, Hao Ren could only quickly say that he believed him. Then he chatted with him about the recent situation of the castle. Seeing that it was getting late, he said goodbye and left.

The room he booked was on the west end of the third floor. Vivian and Lily's room was directly opposite his, while Nangong's room was at the other end of the corridor, far away. As soon as he arrived at his room door, Hao Ren saw Vivian waiting for him.

"Let's talk in your room," Vivian said, then pointed to her own room. "Big dog's dreaming. She's chewing on the table leg in there right now. Be prepared to pay for it tomorrow."

Hao Ren: "...Why didn't you stop her!"

Vivian raised her hand, showing a row of teeth marks on her arm: "Heh."

Hao Ren: "..."

The conditions in this rural hotel were certainly not comparable to those of a star-rated hotel in central London. Each room only had a few necessary pieces of furniture such as beds, tables, and chairs, but such rooms actually made Hao Ren feel relaxed. He and Vivian sat on the bed and roughly explained what he had heard downstairs, then said with some worry, "I heard there are already a lot of people at the castle. Many crazy guys have simply come with RVs or tents—they don't live in town, they directly set up camp outside the castle waiting to see ghosts. It may not be realistic for us to sneak in and find the 'person'."

"So, starting tonight or starting tomorrow night is the same?" Vivian blinked. "It just so happens that I used my method to investigate the situation there and really found something interesting."

Hao Ren: "?"