Chapter 39: Stranger
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After nearly an hour, Hao Ren finally sussed it out. There were no major problems with the MDT but somehow, it was marred with glitches. A tech noob himself, Hao Ren was nonetheless quick to notice the anomaly. There were many functions which he could not make head or tail of. Plus, information about them was just next to nothing. He had tried his luck with the MDT’s AI but, the AI knew no better than him; after all, the AI would not question Raven 12345’s order.
The problem was, the programs ordered by Raven 12345 were not native to the MDT. Every MDT distributed at the grassroots level went through a process of initialization first. So by right, every MDT should have came out identical right out of the box. However, local management was given the discretion to install locale-specific programs. Such examples were the localized biological encyclopedia, localized interstellar navigation map, antenatal care guide for female agents and the like. The central information vault of the Xi Ling Empire was a master record of everything—no matter how bizarre or small, one could find it there. Due to this, there was an endless list of programs which could be downloaded into the MDT. Clearly, this was the source of the problem. Raven 12345, Hao Ren’s regional chief was one fry short of a happy meal and technologically speaking, she was a dummy. However, she had given orders to download a hell of a lot of programs and had also meddled with the MDT before it was passed on to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren and Vivian were staring at a huge PT-385 Encyclopedia of the Universe in the MDT— a compilation of 2,000 volumes to be exact. They were flabbergasted. Deletion of anything from the MDT required access of higher authorization.
"I suggest you make do with it." The holographic message read. "All functions of the MDT are intact and working fine. You only have to control your compulsion and ignore the spams. And a replacement will be no better as Raven 12345 would certainly toy with the replacement unit again before you get your hands on it. A check with the local network message board has confirmed such incidents and complaints related to this MDT issue have gone through the roof. She’s one hell of a woman."
"Alright, I give up. As long as you get me what I want, I’ll just turn a blind eye to all the nonsense. Ignorance is bliss, right?"
"Dear user, don’t worry. You will be in good hands with me. I am as powerful as you can imagine." The AI was narcissistic.
Hao Ren would someday come to the realization that ignoring it was the best decision he had ever made.
"Let’s go downstairs and grab some bites." Hao Ren tucked the MDT into his pocket before checking out the antique clock standing at the corner. "Lily’s been gone for an hour, is she lost?"
"The hotel serves breakfast, and that big dog’s a gourmand. She must be gorging on the food as we speak. She’s a loser," Vivian quipped.
Hao Ren shrugged without a word and led Vivian out of the room. They entered a restaurant at the first floor of the hotel.
England was a slow-paced country where people lived a laid-back lifestyle. Typical English folk would start their day at nine in the morning and have their first meal of the day. Such a lifestyle was alien to Hao Ren. Plus, he was still plagued by jet lag. There were a few guests at the breakfast buffet section. There was no mistaking that Lily was sitting right there, alone at her table in the middle of the restaurant. Vivian was spot-on about Lily being a gourmand. Lily was seen cleaning up plate after plate of food and there was no sign of her slowing down.
Hao Ren blinked. "It seems the rumor that spices aren’t available in England isn’t true at all considering how much food Lily has gobbled up."
Vivian looked on with disdain. "She’s just an omnivore."
Holding a plate in his hand, Hao Ren proceeded to the long buffet line. He ambled around and noticed that not all English food was unpalatable. At least, he had no difficulty in filling his plate with ‘edible’ items from the choices available. He then lumbered over to Lily and sat next to her, inquiring curiously, "Are you done yet?"
"Ermm, yup!" Lily tried to speak with her mouth full. "The salad isn’t bad, same goes for the fruits. But I’m not really fond of the BBQ meat. They don’t taste like the ones back home..."
Hao Ren stared into her eyes and muttered, "As a werewolf, don’t you feel ashamed of your choice of food?"
It seemed like Lily did not get the message. She exclaimed, "They don’t sell ribs over here!"
Hao Ren felt they were not really on the same wavelength.
He turned over to Vivian and was confounded. "Now, that’s like a pot calling the kettle black."
Vivian almost overfilled her plate and it looked like a small hill. As if it began raining after a long drought, she could not care less about table manners and etiquette. She just wanted to fulfill her long-deprived desire or rather appetite, after living on a budget for so long.
"I’ve never had a life like this!" The vampire girl babbled with her mouth full. "I’d like to enjoy as much as I can while it lasts!"
Hao Ren was relieved at the fact that the English started their day late and also, there were only a handful of waitresses on duty at that time. Otherwise, the scene of the two gobblers trying to out-eat each other would have been too embarrassing to be witnessed.
As they were going at it, a man holding a plate in his hand approached. Hao Ren heard him utter in a soft voice, "Is this seat taken?"
Hao Ren looked up; the stranger was slender, he had short hair and he wore a white top with black pants. He was not particularly handsome by any standard but exuded an air of trustworthiness and aptness in him. The man had an unmistakably oriental face which Hao Ren could almost tell was Chinese.
"Please have a seat, it’s not taken." Hao Ren invited the man to take the vacant seat across the table. He was a little puzzled though; most tables in the restaurant were empty at that time. Why did this stranger choose to sit with them? He heightened his guard and sized the man up carefully.
He was mindful of his so-called covert mission and became alert.
Vivian had also come to notice the presence of the man. As she became self-conscious, she slowed down her pace. Her mannerisms switched to Duchess-of-Cambridge mode—elegant and graceful, save for the oil stain on the corner of her mouth.
"It’s kind of rare to see someone from my home country here." The man was cordial and friendly despite his appearance implying otherwise. "Are you here for holiday?"
"Home country?" Hao Ren did not expect to be so damn right. The translation program had prevented him from recognizing the man’s accent outright until the man divulged his origin. "Oh, you’re from China too?"
"Yup, I’m a native Chinese but I spend most my time globe-trotting." The tall man guffawed. "I’m happy to see my fellow countrymen here. If it’s not too much trouble, do you mind if I join you guys?"
"Not at all!" Hao Ren waved his hands.
"That’s great!" The man nodded and unexpectedly uttered, "Are you searching for a place called Yorkford?"
Chapter 40: The Demon Hunter
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Are you looking for a place called Yorkford?"
The stranger man’s inadvertent question threw Hao Ren and Vivian off guard. With hundreds of years as a veteran vampire under her belt, Vivian managed to hide her surprise but Hao Ren had it written all over his face. "How did you know that?"
Hao Ren’s muscles tensed up; his fists clenched tightly as if he was about to draw his sword out from its scabbard—of course he had no sword. He was ready to improvise by picking up a chair or something he could grab within his reach as a weapon. In reality, there were no threats in the slightest. He was only paranoid because he had drawn himself too deep into his own imagination of a James Bond scenario. Coming from a humble, peasant background and going on his first ever ‘covert’ mission, Hao Ren was nervous as well as paranoid. Anyone walking on two legs in a 200 meter radius was an imaginary threat.
The tall and slender man smiled after which, he pointed at Lily. "I overheard what the lady said earlier as she was asking around about Yorkford. Although she was speaking in Chinese, the waitresses and I could understand it. So, I was just curious. Why are you looking for that place?"
Hao Ren gave Lily a sideways stare but she was so obsessed with her meal, she did not even notice. For all intents and purposes, she could not be justifiably blamed for her conspicuous recon method. They knew that Yorkford did not exist on modern maps. They could only take an educated guess of the location and its distance from London based on the bits and pieces supplied by Raven 12345. Other than that, not much could have been done except asking around.
Lily had assumed that the MDT was simultaneously interpreting her words. She did not realize that the simultaneous interpreter did not work for her and she was only heard speaking in Chinese.
"We’re here on holiday," Vivian took a break from her meal but had maintained her graceful manners. She chimed in trying to save Hao Ren from botching their cover. "Well actually, we aren’t fond of the usual tourist places but we’re more interested in little-known spots in the remote countryside for a little exploration. We came to read about a place called Yorkford a while back so, we thought it might be a good idea to explore the place a bit while we’re here in England. But it seems that it is unknown even to the locals."
Hao Ren secretly gave Vivian a thumbs-up. He thought, "At least that inept blood-sucking creature is finally being useful. And clearly, she is a good liar too!"
Under the guise of the table, Vivian reciprocated a victory sign. She had learned the fine art of lying ever since the invention of Cuneiform script and had been good at it too.
The man looked at them but was not suspicious of anything. He continued, "Oh, I see. Obviously, that place has somehow become famous lately. However, you won’t find that place—at least, not by the name of Yorkford."
"You mean, you do know the place?" Lily chimed in eagerly. Her ears stood erect as she jolted her head upwards. The sauce on the salad jutting out from her mouth almost splattered onto the man’s face. "You’re going too?"
"Yeah, I guess we can travel together." The man smiled. "A few hundred years ago, Yorkford was an estate where members of the nobility lived. Somehow, it was left deserted and it fell into ruin in the course of a few hundred years. Since then, no one has ever remembered or mentioned it. It was forgotten, save for entries in a few professional, geographic publications. So how you got to know about the name is beyond me. Nevertheless Brewshire, a small town which was built at the South, is the closest point to the ruins."
"F*ck me..." Hao Ren was appalled. "How stupid could the white-haired succubus get? It’s the name of a hundred-year-old decaying estate!"
Vivian echoed, "Ya, damn right. The information is so outdated."
Hao Ren glanced at her, chiding, "Shut up, you Old English!"
Vivian lowered her head awkwardly but Lily overheard the chide. She looked up and asked curiously, "Old English? What Old English?" Lily had no clue; she was still in a somnambulistic state when Vivian slipped up.
"Freeze your teeth and give your tongue a sleigh ride!" Hao Ren pushed Lily’s head back down and turned to face the man with a surprise look. "What a coincidence! I was worried about how we would ever get there until I met you. You’re going there for business or leisure?"
Hao Ren could not deny the fact that he was pleasantly surprised. He was prepared to spend the entire of the following day scouting for anything about Yorkford. The appearance of this man who claimed to know about Yorkford had actually made things easier for him. Yet at the same time, he had his doubts. It was too much of a coincidence.
According to the man, Yorkford was an estate owned by some members of nobility during the medieval kingdom period. However, it had been deserted, forgotten, and had almost disappeared from the surface of the earth a long time ago. Even if there was a settlement built near the original ruins later on, there were no indications of any historical or cultural connections between the two. Considering all these things, gathering of information would have been extremely difficult and time-consuming. So, that leaves the question: Was the man being genuine?
Hao Ren’s feeling had turned from a pleasant surprise to outright skepticism but he had concealed this switch rather well this time. Hao Ren appeared passionate and the man did not suspect a thing. "For business. My job requires me to travel frequently, especially to places of historical interest"
"You’re a tomb raider?"
Hao Ren suddenly felt a sharp pain on his feet. Vivian had stamped his foot.
"About my job..." The man suddenly sounded reluctant before steering away from the topic of conversation. "Have you heard news about Yorkford?"
"What news?" Hao Ren quickly realized something. Irrespective of what news came out from the place, his mission was going to tank. He was supposed to meet an unusual creature in Yorkford. Drawing people’s attention to it was an absolute no-no.
"There is a castle in Yorkford, abandoned and in ruin," The man said in a mystic tone of voice. "It’s not a tourist attraction and it’s supposed to stay that way. However, news of paranormal activities have broke out recently; there were claims of sightings of mysterious lights, fire burning at the top the ruins and knights in full battle armor lurking around in the evening. According to the locals, it could be the haunted spirits of the noblemen, noblewomen and knights who once lived there. The place has now become somewhat ‘famous’ because of that."
The man narrated the story in such vivid details. The story exuded a strong, spooky air between each punctuation, sending chills down everyone’s spine. But thanks to the werewolf and the vampire, Hao Ren was kind of immune to it. At that moment, he had only one thing on his mind: Could the paranormal phenomena have something to do with his new tenant?
Hao Ren pondered. If the paranormal events were true as claimed, then his tenant could very well be a... What the f*ck? Could the white-haired succubus not send him some ‘normal’ tenants?
Then again, any human in his right mind would never stay in his house for obvious reasons.
"That’s your job? Hao Ren gave the man a curious glance. He had a goddamn feeling that the paranormal story had something to do with the man’s appearance before them.
The man smiled shyly. "It may sound absurd but actually, I’m a demon hunter..."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
10 Power
stone 
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