Anomalous Creatures

"Are you looking for a place called Yofulde?"

The strange tall and skinny man asked casually, but it instantly made Kevin and Weilili tense up. The latter managed to control her expression with years of self-discipline, while Kevin couldn't conceal the surprise on his face: "How do you know?!"

At this moment, Kevin was already prepared to draw his sword and create a bloodbath, even if he had to use a chair as a weapon in this nearby area without swords. Honestly, there was no need for him to be so tense, but he had watched too many action movies. Since receiving such a mysterious mission from Raven 12345, he had imagined himself as James Bond. As an ordinary civilian encountering such a "confidential mission" for the first time, it was impossible to say he wasn't nervous. Kevin was currently in a state of extreme vigilance, considering every breathing upright creature within a 200-meter radius around him as a potential enemy...

However, the strange man just chuckled and pointed at Lily, who was still gorging herself: "Just now, this girl was asking people about Yofulde everywhere, but she was speaking Chinese, and no one except the waiter here and me could understand her. I'm curious about what you're doing looking for that place?"

Kevin immediately glanced at Lily, who was staring at the vegetable salad on her plate and hadn't noticed anything. However, it wasn't Lily's fault for taking such a bold action, because Kevin and the others could almost confirm that "Yofulde" was not a place name on the current British map. They could only roughly judge its location and distance from London based on the vague information provided by Raven 12345. To find that place, besides asking the locals, there didn't seem to be any other good method.

It was just confusing to see this idiot using pure Chinese to ask for directions here. Did she think the translation function of the data terminal was shared by the team?

"We're tourists," Weilili, who had been trying to maintain her elegant dining demeanor, stopped to bail Kevin out this time. "But I don't like those overused tourist attractions. I like to find those small places rarely visited by people, just like exploring. A while ago, we learned about the place name Yofulde in a book. Since our travel route also included a stay in England for some time, we decided to detour here and take a look. But it seems like nobody knows where Yofulde is exactly?"

Kevin secretly gave Weilili a thumbs-up: This useless vampire was finally useful once. She lied so effortlessly, and look how well she spun the lie!

Weilili discreetly made a victory gesture under the table: She had been sensible since humans inscribed cuneiform on clay tablets, and while she couldn't claim expertise in everything, she did possess a certain level of deception skills.

The strange man glanced at Kevin and the others, seemingly without suspicion, and nodded as if suddenly understanding: "Oh, tourism. That makes sense. That place has become somewhat famous recently, but you definitely won't find it under the name 'Yofulde'."

"You know that place?!" Lily's ears perked up instantly, and she lifted her head abruptly with half a vegetable in her mouth, almost splashing salad dressing on the man's face. "Are you also going there?"

"It seems we can travel together," the tall, skinny man chuckled. "Yofulde was the name of that place a long time ago, at least a few hundred years ago. Nowadays, no one remembers that name anymore. You can only find it in more specialized geographical books or reference books. I don't know how you came across this name. It used to be the feudal land of a noble who received honors, but it was abandoned for a period of time. Gradually, a new town emerged beside the old feudal land. That town is called Brushall. If you want to see Yofulde, the closest location should be Brushall, which is south of the old site of Yofulde. I'm also heading there."

"Wow, that's really complicated..." Kevin couldn't help but stick out his tongue. "Just how tricky can that White-haired Witch be? A name from hundreds of years ago, and the old site is abandoned now..."

Weilili shook her head in complaint as well: "The information is outdated. It's really unreliable."

Kevin glared at her: "Shut up if all you can speak is ancient English from hundreds of years ago."

Weilili immediately lowered her head in embarrassment, while Lily, with a mouthful of vegetable leaves, looked around curiously and asked: "Ancient English? What ancient English?" She was in a daze when Weilili had messed up earlier, so she didn't remember what had happened.

"Just eat your food. Can't these dishes keep your mouth shut?" Kevin pushed Lily's head back down and then looked at the stranger across the table with a hint of surprise. "This is really a coincidence. I never expected to meet someone going the same way. I was worried about how to find that place before. What are you doing there? Are you also traveling?"

Kevin was genuinely surprised. He had thought he might spend the entire day tomorrow looking for where "Yofulde" was, and there was still no guarantee he would find it. He didn't expect to encounter someone who was also heading there so soon. Honestly, this good luck seemed to have fallen from the sky. The coincidence was almost suspicious.

According to the stranger's introduction, Yofulde was an old aristocratic territory that had been abandoned hundreds of years ago, almost disappearing into the dust of history. Even the new town built on the old site is located to the south of Yofulde, and there is no cultural or historical connection between them. With such a convoluted clue, it would take an indeterminate amount of time to investigate through normal means or searching for information without a specific target. Is this man... really a coincidental fellow traveler?

Kevin calmed down from his initial pleasant surprise and became more suspicious of the stranger in front of him. However, he didn't show it this time, maintaining his eager expression. The tall, skinny man also appeared to have no guards up. He pointed to himself and said, "I'm here for work. My job is special, requiring me to travel all over the world, specifically looking for places with history and stories."

Kevin's mind blanks for a moment: "Are you a tomb robber?"

Then he felt Weilili stomp hard on his instep beside him.

"As for my job..." The tall, skinny man deliberately teased, "Since you're going to Yofulde, do you know what recent news there is about it?"

"What news?" Kevin's heart skipped a beat because he knew that whatever news came out of that place would mean trouble for his mission! He was there to pick up an "abnormal creature," and the place must not attract attention!

"Yofulde is most famous for an abandoned ancient castle left behind by the old aristocracy, which is now almost completely in ruins," the tall, skinny man said in a mysterious tone. "It should have remained in disrepair, without even value as a tourist attraction. But recently, news spread among the locals that there were strange noises coming from beneath the castle. At night, people have seen mysterious flames burning above the castle, and strangers in knight's armor running in and out of the castle at dusk. In short, some say that the old aristocrats and knights of the castle have turned into vengeful spirits and returned. The place is haunted... and its fame is growing."

The tall, skinny man created an eerie atmosphere with his words, even though his phrasing was very ordinary. He managed to sketch out a chilling scene in just a few sentences. However, Kevin, who had faced werewolves and vampires daily without changing his expression, wasn't very afraid. He just thought of a possibility: Could this be related to his new tenant?

Kevin pondered: If the rumors of the haunted castle were true, then his new tenant was most likely... Oh geez, couldn't that White-haired Witch send him some normal clients?

Upon reflection, he realized that she couldn't... How could a normal person live in his current home?

"So, what's your job?" Kevin looked at the tall, skinny man curiously. The man's emphasis on the haunted news must have a reason, probably related to why he was here.

The tall, skinny man chuckled, a little embarrassed: "You might think it's absurd, but I'm actually a demon hunter, specializing in driving ghosts away all over the world..."