Chapter 1 Vivian Proves Herself Right About Being Hungry

As it turned out, Vivian would indeed get hungry quickly.

Hao Ren and Lily had only been craning their necks, gazing towards the valley entrance for a short while when they heard the sounds of explosions and collapses gradually die down in the distance. The clouds of smoke and dust that filled the sky slowly dissipated with a gust of wind that suddenly swept across the high altitude. Lily nervously grabbed Hao Ren's arm, her grip so tight that sparks flew from the rigid shield. "Hao... Hao Ren, is your friend's morning crankiness over?"

"Looks like the worst is over." Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Although he had appeared quite calm earlier, he was actually quite nervous. Vivian's awakening from her slumber was so terrifying that it exceeded their initial expectations. Fortunately, she usually slept in sparsely populated areas, and Siberia was one of the most desolate places in the world, so desolate that even detonating a nuclear bomb might not startle anyone. Otherwise, wouldn't Vivian's roar upon opening her eyes cause rivers of blood and wandering souls everywhere?

The two of them watched from the same spot for a while longer, finally confirming that there would be no new dangers in the valley, and that the perpetrator of everything didn't seem to be releasing any more hostile aura. Only then did they cautiously walk towards the valley.

The valley looked as if it had just experienced a saturation bombing. Everywhere, there were traces of the violent eruption that had occurred earlier. The shockwave from deep within the valley had blown away almost all the accumulated snow, and the ground was covered with radial cracks and wrinkles, interspersed with countless smoldering pits. Hao Ren was quite familiar with this scene: it should be the traces left by a lightning storm.

At the end of all this disastrous scenery, a black rock that was higher than the ground miraculously remained intact. A black-haired girl with a cold and detached temperament sat quietly on top of the rock, wearing a black dress that was already tattered. In her hand, she held a metal object that was unrecognisable, looking at it somewhat blankly, as if she was trying to recall something, but obviously to no avail.

This was how Hao Ren first saw Vivian on this journey through time.

She sat there so aloof, as if she was independent of the world, surrounded by scorched earth created inadvertently. She was completely immersed in her own world, as if her perception of the outside world had become dull to the point of near non-existence.

But Hao Ren and Lily's approach finally caught the black-haired girl's attention. She raised her head slightly, looking with some confusion at the two "strangers" who had appeared before her. A slumber lasting half a century or more had made her mind somewhat slow, and it took her a while to focus her gaze and fix it on Hao Ren. "What year is it? Who is the Tsar?"

"I don't know either." Hao Ren had a thousand words in his heart, but in the end, he only said this one sentence. From Vivian's eyes, he could already tell that his appearance hadn't directly awakened her "self" as he had expected. At this moment, Vivian was still the countess from history, immersed in her memory block, her thoughts completely stuck at the moment she woke up from the Siberian snowfield. "Maybe the Tsar is about to be overthrown... Or maybe he's already been overthrown."

"Overthrown? Have humans ended another era of their own?" Vivian frowned, her voice as soft as a murmur. "Who are you?"

She seemed to have just realised that Hao Ren, who had appeared before her, was a strange fellow, and then added, "Ordinary people would run away at this moment... But you seem to be waiting for me here on purpose... Are you one of my old friends? Or did another vampire family send you to find me?"

Hao Ren quietly looked at Vivian, and finally slowly revealed a smile. "I am your old friend."

"Old friend..." Vivian slowly turned her neck. "Sorry, I can't remember at all, but since you're an old friend, you should know that my memory isn't very good... Hmm?"

Her gaze finally landed on Lily.

Lily noticed that the other party had finally looked at her, and immediately jumped up happily. "Awoo awoo! Hello, my name is Lily! I'm a new friend of your old friend! Nice to meet you hahahaha you can really sleep awoo..."

Lily's boisterous voice was only halfway through when she saw the expression on Vivian's face suddenly change. "A werewolf?!"

Lily didn't understand what was happening. "Awoo?"

"Why is there a werewolf here?!" Vivian rose from the stone in a whoosh. The calm temperament from just now was instantly replaced by coldness. Countless dark red orbs of blood appeared around her, and her voice was as cold as winter. "Which family are you from? Why did you break into my sleeping place... Could it be that you broke my seal just now?!"

Hao Ren had realised that the situation was bad the moment Vivian said the word "werewolf". He instantly remembered the scene when these two rivals first met - he should have anticipated this scene, but because Vivian and Lily at home had already become a pair of buddies, he had let his guard down. He never expected that at this moment, Vivian was still in a state of hatred against the entire werewolf clan!!

Lily was still confused, but Vivian had already prepared for battle. At this critical moment, Hao Ren rushed between the two of them, loudly stopping them. "Vivian, calm down!! This werewolf has no grudge against you! She's a wild one, a wild one! She's not from any family!"

Lily was still completely confused. "What does wild mean? What does family mean?"

Vivian had slept for more than half a century, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a werewolf standing in front of her. Her vigilance and the conditioned reflex caused by years of fighting almost made her unable to control herself from attacking. Even though Hao Ren jumped out at the first moment, she didn't hesitate much: after all, the latter was still a complete stranger to her, even though he had said he was her old friend just now. But now that he was standing with a werewolf, his credibility was naturally not much left.

So Hao Ren's obstruction had no effect at all. What really made Vivian stop was another reason:

A wave of weakness suddenly spread, causing Vivian, who was floating in mid-air, to sway involuntarily. Then, she fell headfirst to the ground in front of Hao Ren and Lily.

Lily was startled. "Wow! Did your friend have a stroke?"

Hao Ren quickly stepped forward to check the situation. "Vivian, what's wrong with you..."

Vivian weakly propped herself up with one hand, squeezing two words from her throat: "...So hungry."

Hao Ren: "..."

A moment later, a bonfire blazed in the sickwood forest, the aroma of grilled meat spreading and rising, making people's index fingers twitch. The ingredients were fresh prey that Lily had just led the wolves to hunt from the forest, as well as dry food that Hao Ren had taken from his personal space. These things that had been prepared in a hurry couldn't be considered lavish, but for Vivian, who was about to faint from hunger, they were already a great delicacy.

She tore off a large piece of the wild boar leg before it was cooked, and then it quickly disappeared into her mouth at an astonishing speed. Vivian quickly filled her stomach with food, but still maintained the most basic elegance and politeness in her movements: Hao Ren had never seen a person who could eat so quickly while maintaining their posture without shaking and their hairstyle without messing up.

Vivian, who was extremely hungry, ate as if she was fast-forwarding...

"Eat slower," Lily said as she handed over another piece of grilled meat. "There's plenty of meat! My wolf pups brought back a huge wild boar, we three can't finish it all!"

Vivian raised her head and gave Lily a strange look, a hint of vigilance still deep in her eyes, but the "filling her stomach" thing had obviously greatly relieved the hostility between her and the "werewolf" in front of her. She had seen a lot in her ten thousand years, and along with it came a super-strong ability to accept things. In addition, she wasn't affected by the innate antagonistic effect, so she didn't bother to take the initiative to cause trouble. After taking the grilled meat, she even said thank you faintly.

Lily curiously looked at this "mysterious person", and asked very seriously, "Why did you want to fight with me just now?"

"I don't have a good relationship with werewolves," Vivian stopped her movements, swallowed the food with effort, and then said word by word, "Especially since I had just made trouble with some werewolves not long before I went to sleep. I thought you were sent by those families to take revenge."

"Awoo, I don't have any grudges against you," Lily said while holding a large piece of grilled meat, gnawing on it. "I wasn't even born when you mentioned that."

Vivian remained noncommittal, continuing to work hard to fight against the food in her hands. Because she ate too fast, she choked herself again. Hao Ren, who was next to her, quickly handed over a bottle of mineral water. "Drink some water, drink some water, no one is fighting with you..."

Vivian thanked him, took the water bottle and gulped down half a bottle, and then noticed the delicacy and speciality of the bottle. "Hmm? This... It doesn't look like glass or crystal... What a strange thing, is it a new gadget made by humans?"

"Right, right," Lily immediately shouted proudly, as if she had invented the plastic bottle. "Hao Ren has a lot of strange and good stuff on him! He's amazing!"

"Hao Ren... Is that your name?" Vivian looked at Hao Ren seriously, and then seemed to suddenly realise that she had been impolite, a trace of apology appearing on her face. "Sorry, I was too hungry, I didn't even think to ask your name, how rude of me."

Vivian, who was so polite and considerate, even polite to the point of being a stranger, made Hao Ren feel a great sense of distance. He waved his hands vigorously. "Don't be so polite, don't be so polite, you never used to be so polite when we were together."

"Is that so... Sorry, I've forgotten," Vivian frowned slightly. "How long have I slept?"

"It's hard to judge," Hao Ren said honestly. "In fact, I don't even know what year it is now, and this one next to me is even more confused. She has never been in contact with the outside world in her life, and doesn't even know what you're talking about when you say Tsar."

"Have you been asleep for a long time too?" Vivian looked at Hao Ren curiously.

"Uh, my situation is too complicated, it's hard to explain in a few words," Hao Ren said as he piled more food in front of Vivian. "Let's eat first, let's eat..."

Since Vivian hadn't directly regained her memory because she saw an old acquaintance, the plan switched to the second stage: build a good relationship with her and conduct more stimulation tests. In terms of building a good relationship, Hao Ren always kept Heather Annah's instructions in mind -

Do nothing, just treat Vivian to a meal! Let this poor ghost who has been hungry for ten thousand years eat her fill first!