"Bang!!!"

Caught completely off guard, Hasse was struck squarely on the head by Hao Ren's super-alloy brick, the sound almost like two pieces of metal colliding. In fact, the veteran monster hunter, with his rich combat experience, had reacted before the brick even hit him. He widened his eyes in surprise, and then his entire upper body erupted with muscle as he tried to dodge the close-range attack. His reaction was fast enough, but unfortunately, Hao Ren's speed was no less impressive, and he had sealed off all possible escape routes. Hao Ren had received guidance from a renowned master in the art of brickmanship: his close-quarters combat training with Lily. Lily herself was a master of the brick, and Hao Ren, relying on his superhuman physique, had trained with Lily for more than two years. To describe his mastery of the brick as "supernatural" would be an understatement...

So Hasse took a solid brick to the head at extremely close range, instantly sending his world spinning.

Yet, he swayed twice in the midst of the intense dizziness, and somehow didn't fall! Not only did he not fall, but he even managed to steady himself and reach for the holy silver short sword at his waist!

Hao Ren was about to jump up and curse: this guy didn't even get knocked out? Were monster hunters' skulls forged from battleship alloy?!

Hasse took half a step back, his years of combat instinct allowing him to assume a fighting stance even in his disoriented state. At the same time, an expression of mingled shock and anger finally appeared on his face, and he glared at Hao Ren, squeezing out a single word: "You..."

Hao Ren's mind flashed to plan B, and he immediately pointed a hand at Hasse, a dark spatial rift appearing beneath the old hunter's feet: "Then I'll have to trouble you!"

Hasse's "You" was barely out of his mouth when he felt the space around him distorting. He immediately tried to activate his monster hunter's spatial teleportation ability to escape, but the space-time interference effect caused by his personal space opening negated his efforts. The next moment, the veteran hunter, who had weathered countless storms, fell straight into Hao Ren's personal space.

Having done all this, Hao Ren quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming that the brief commotion hadn't attracted the attention of any night-watch hunters, before taking long strides into the deep night outside the cemetery at his fastest speed.

He ran flat out for a full half hour, finally relaxing when he was sure the monster hunters weren't following. If possible, he really didn't want to clash with those monster hunters. Having confirmed that a malicious entity was sleeping here, he had to preserve all the power he could use to fight it, including the monster hunters. Besides, he hadn't originally intended to throw Hasse into his personal space. Being in that place in a conscious state was not a pleasant experience. If a closed-off living environment had been prepared in advance, it would have been better, but otherwise, there was only an endless chaotic space and an absolutely deafening silence that could drive people insane. Hao Ren had used his personal space to hold Doudou and the little bat, but the former had a beautiful fish tank to play with, and the latter slept the whole time. But Hasse...

The unlucky old hunter, he was thrown in while conscious.

Hao Ren sighed, hoping Hasse's steadfast mind would still work in the chaotic void, and that it wouldn't leave any lasting psychological scars.

Why did monster hunters have to have such hard heads!

With such a lament in his heart, Hao Ren began to run wildly through the desolate medieval countryside all night long.

In late medieval Europe, although the Dark Ages were nearing their end, the barbarity and darkness still lingered over the land. As long as the flames of the industrial revolution and the Renaissance hadn't spread throughout the nations, the shadow of supernatural power would not fade from this land. Outside the cities and villages, there were wildernesses ruled by gloomy, terrifying, and unknowable forces. The degree of development within the four fields was extremely low. Human farmland and pastures often didn't stray too far from settlements, and outside the limited lights, there was a completely barbaric world. In the barbaric land, abandoned human buildings could be seen everywhere for various reasons.

Abandoned castles, dilapidated windmills, gloomy barracks, and even ruins, rubble, and debris that could no longer be identified were not uncommon in the wilderness. They were basically the legacies left by the lords of various places in ancient times. After being abandoned for various reasons, it was difficult for humans to rebuild these territories.

Because the wilderness at night was filled with indescribable and terrifying forces, once the lights of humanity went out, those supernatural forces would quickly take advantage of the situation and fill the void.

In the dark Middle Ages, there was never a shortage of legends about haunted mills, cursed villages, and vampire castles.

Hao Ren felt that the atmosphere of the place in front of him was very close to those legends.

Following the guidance of the hidden markers along the way, he came to a ruin far from any human habitation. It was located at the foot of a small hill, with a small river flowing down from the hillside. Several dilapidated houses that were about to completely collapse and a water mill that had collapsed, leaving only half of it standing, were scattered on both sides of the river. In the distance, more architectural remains could be seen, and on top of the small mountain, the vague outline of a larger ruin stood against the backdrop of the night sky.

The entire ruin was surrounded by a strange atmosphere: cold, eerie, and even the wind seemed to carry faint wails of the undead. Hao Ren was one hundred and one percent certain that this place had not been abandoned naturally.

Its abandonment was probably related to the activities of the Other, and its lingering, strange atmosphere... was mostly related to the negative force mentioned by the monster hunters, which was gradually awakening on this land.

Vivian should be sleeping nearby, and her malicious entity had already begun to infiltrate its power into the real world.

Hao Ren looked around and saw a small, inconspicuous tuft of silver-white fur on the outer wall of an abandoned wooden house, confirming that this was the witches' last foothold. He strode forward and said loudly, "Come out, I'm not being followed."

A silver-white figure sprang onto the roof of the wooden house, and said to Hao Ren, arms akimbo, "Password, password! You have to say the password when you make contact!"

Hao Ren raised an eyebrow and looked at the husky girl. "You're not steady up there."

"Huh?" Lily was stunned for a moment, followed by a cracking sound from the wooden planks under her feet, and the whole thing collapsed. "Wah!!"

The witches emerged from their hiding places, Heather Ann among them. The last to arrive was Lily, who had jumped out first: the husky girl, covered in wood chips and dirt, muttered when she saw Hao Ren, "If I had my full-strength body, this kind of thing wouldn't happen. I do have some sense of balance..."

"I never thought you'd actually come back alive," Heather Ann looked at Hao Ren with an expression as if he were an alien. "To retreat completely under the noses of the monster hunters? Just what are you?"

"I didn't just retreat completely," Hao Ren smiled and beckoned to Lily. "Come here, help me with something."

The husky girl opened her big, innocent eyes. "What?"

Hao Ren handed the alloy brick to Lily. "In a moment, I'm going to release someone from my personal space. The moment he comes out, knock him out—just knock him out, don't kill him. Everyone else, step back, you might get scared."

Heather Ann seemed to have vaguely guessed something, and her face immediately showed a terrified expression: "You... you didn't capture a monster hunter, did you?!"

Hao Ren smiled slightly, then nodded to Lily, carefully controlling the opening of his personal space.

Under his precise control, Hasse didn't come completely out of the personal space, but only the part of him from the shoulders up appeared in the air. He had probably been wandering around in the chaotic void trying to find an exit, and when he suddenly saw the scenery of the outside world again, he was stunned. Then he saw Hao Ren's face, which looked especially deserving of a beating at this moment.

"You..."

"Hey-yah!!"

Whoosh—bang!

Accompanied by a whooshing sound, Lily used a lot of force to smash the brick on Hasse's head. This time, the old hunter finally lived up to expectations and passed out...

The husky girl only realized who she had hit after knocking him out, and exclaimed in surprise: "Ya! Hasse?"

"Six-hundred-years-ago version, doesn't know us." Hao Ren deliberately spoke in Holtan, signaling Lily not to shout, and at the same time he sincerely admired the husky spirit's brute strength: even in this "puppy body" that was said to be weak in all aspects, this girl's strength was greater than his own!

"We finally subdued him, otherwise I really wouldn't know how to deal with him," Hao Ren breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that Hasse was completely unconscious, and only then dared to completely release the old hunter from his personal space. At the same time, he also took out a set of powerful restraints used to deal with dangerous humanoid prisoners and put them on the other party's neck, wrists, and ankles, controlling the unconscious Hasse securely. "Lily, you carry him, I didn't prepare properly, I'm afraid something will happen if I throw him into my personal space."

"Oh—then what if he wakes up?"

"Then knock him out again."

Lily wasn't stupid, she had guessed what Hao Ren was planning when she saw him "tie back" Hasse, so she happily agreed. "Okay! Leave it to me!"

Only then did the witches dare to approach.

Because of their special bloodline, the witches did not have any innate antagonistic effect with monster hunters, but the experience of being hunted by the latter for many years had planted a psychological shadow in their hearts that was no less than facing a natural enemy. The moment they saw a monster hunter being thrown out, even Madam Marie almost exclaimed, and it was not until they saw Lily and Hao Ren easily remove the threat of this monster hunter that they had the courage to gather around. A group of witches pointed and stared at Hasse on Lily's back, and the witch Helen frowned and asked, "Why didn't you kill him?"

"He's useful," Hao Ren said casually. "This is the domain of ancient inherited magic, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."

Heather Ann also spoke: "It's your right to dispose of prisoners, but I have to remind you, monster hunters are quite dangerous, keeping a living person by your side is the greatest threat."

The little bat spirit rarely had a very serious expression on her face.

Faced with Heather Ann, Hao Ren couldn't just fob her off casually, he cleared his throat and made his expression serious: "Don't worry, I have arrangements, this monster hunter will play a very important role—and you've seen, Lily and I can easily control the situation, he won't be a threat."

He was saying this against his conscience: if he hadn't been scheming from start to finish, how could he and Lily have controlled a monster hunter elder like Hasse so easily!

Heather Ann glanced at the restraints on Hasse: "I hope your shackles are very strong."

"Of course," Hao Ren nodded with a smile. "Let's put the monster hunter aside for now, the important thing is... wait, why do I feel like someone's missing?"