Chapter 896: The Expected Encounter
What happened was obvious. Amatura, the demon hunter, might have come out from the madness caused by the Shade of Chaos before his death and left behind this note. Judging from his posture, he was intentionally hiding the note with his body. The situation at the time must be so bad that he only managed to leave behind a few words, and these words must be crucial.
“‘They are right, we have made a mistake'” Vivian repeated the words thoughtfully. “What does that mean?”
“They should mean the Ancattero family,” Hao Ren said, recalling what White Flame had told him and trying to connect the dots. “The demon hunters came to the Golden Manor to figure out the ‘innate hostility’ problem. So could it be that the ‘mistake’ refers to the misconceptions of the three elders about the phenomenon of innate hostility?”
“The Ancaterro family is right? Does it mean that the Ancattero family has found out the real cause of the innate hostility?” Hesperides had the same wavelength as Hao Ren. “Can we infer based on these words that the demon hunters under the leadership of Amatura and the Ancattero family were studying the phenomenon of innate hostility and both sides had made great progress, but they had come to very different conclusions? So they decided to meet up and conduct a joint discussion. Then perhaps the research had caused the Shades of Chaos to escape, and it was squarely blamed on the demon hunters. That was why Amatura wrote they are right, we’ve made a mistake,” Hesperides said.
Her guess made sense, but somehow, Hao Ren had the gut feeling that there was something more than meets the eye. Scratching his chin, he looked at Amatura’s body. “Are you saying that the study of the innate-hostility phenomenon by the demon hunters and the Ancattero family was the cause of the seal’s failure?”
“Wasn’t that the reason the demon hunters came to the Golden Manor?” Hesperides crossed her arms. “Judging from Amatura’s last words, it is obvious that mistake was made on the matter.”
“If that’s the case, what is the connection between the Shade of Chaos and innate hostility?” Vivian asked, her face serious. “What did they do that led to the failure of the seal? They couldn’t possibly experiment in the middle of the banquet, could they?”
Wayne could not make head or tail of what they were talking. He was even more confused when he saw Hesperides the nymph of the evening, who was conservative and always keeping a low prole, could keep up with the conversation. “Looks like you guys are very familiar with the innate-hostility phenomenon,” he said.
Vivian looked at Wayne and asked, “Don’t you understand?”
“Of course I understand; all otherworldlings have been affected by this phenomenon, and the innate hostility among the younger generation is rapidly weakening recently. It has become a big issue,” Wayne said as he looked at the demon hunters nearby. “I just don’t know what they’re doing.”
Hao Ren looked at Wayne. He suddenly became interested to know what this traditional vampire thought about the conflicts between the supernatural races. “What is your thought on the innate hostility? Have you ever asked why the supernatural races on Earth are killing each other for no reason?” he asked.
Just when Wayne was about to speak, the MDT suddenly emerged. “Turbulence detected on the outer dimension. A new entrance was opened!”
“What is this?” Wayne stared perplexedly at the gadget that came out of Hao Ren’s pocket and had forgotten what he had wanted to say.
“I’m so high-tech that you have no idea of,” the MDT said and shook a couple of times in front of Wayne. It then opened a holographic radar image. A few red dots appeared and moved inward from the edge of the radar range. “Looks like White Flame has found a way in,” Hao Ren said.
“They are faster than I have expected.” Vivian’s expression had not changed a bit, the arrival of the other demon hunters was within her calculation. “The dimensional blockade might have been weakened when we entered the mysterious realm. The demon hunters are skillful trackers though,” she said.
A sudden sense of crisis struck Wayne, taking away his curiosity about the MDT. He felt the enemies were right at the gate. His eyes became blood-red, and two sharp fangs had grown out of his mouth. “What’s the plan? Do we ambush them or set a trap to welcome them?” he asked.
Vivian shot Wayne her junior a cold look. “Who said we’re fighting? Have you forgotten what I told you before?”
“Let’s go and welcome them. We don’t have to hide, meet them openly,” Hesperides said with a cold voice. “This place is too freaking weird. We have no idea where the shadows are hiding, fighting among ourselves will only put us all in danger. I hope those demon hunters understand this,” she said.
Vivian nodded and turned to walk toward the door, but Wayne was still worried. “Is this going to be okay?”
“When she says she can handle it, she means it. If she can’t, neither you can.” Hao Ren smacked Wayne on the shoulder. “We’re not weaklings.”
Wayne did not know how to react. Probably it was the first time in his life that someone smacked and talked to him like that. When he finally woke up to it, Hao Ren and his team were already at the doorway. He looked at Hao Ren from behind, pouting. “A bunch of weirdos,” he mumbled.
Hesperides rubbed the scarred on her forehead. In some ways, she shared Wayne’s feelings. “Yeah, they’re really strange,” she said.
Meanwhile, White Flame was entering the Golden Manor with her teacher and companions for the first time. Despite their vast experience, the demon hunters were awed at what they saw.
A thin-at-the-top, dark man in a long trench coat was in front of the team. The dense fog was giving way from as far as dozens of meters away whenever he moved. Looking at the surroundings with great interest, the man said casually, “I didn’t expect to see real gold though I’d heard of Golden Manor before. Where did the Ancattero family get so much gold?”
One of the masters among them replied casually, “It was said that they used magic to turn sunlight into gold.”
“It must be a rumor.” The bald man laughed. “It doesn’t make sense in the eye of the laws of physics.”
This team of demon hunters was elites who had been working together for years. They were veterans and having vast experience in dealing with various complicated situations, so they were calm walking in this strange realm. White Flame was also the backbone of this elite force. Walking at the rear of the team silently, she looked indifferent her surroundings, but actually, she was very alert. She was scanning her surroundings quietly for any strange movement in the fog.
“Have you smelled them?” Hasse noticed his disciple’s behavior, slowed down and asked her.
White Flame shook her head slightly. “Nope. They might have entered through another entrance.”
“Judging from the magic ripples I’ve sensed earlier, they are one step ahead of us,” said Hasse with a shimmer in his single eye. “The Countess has involved herself personally in this matter. She wasn’t used to be that high-profile, but she’s getting more and more active now.”
“She seems to be following the human named Hao Ren,” White Flame said with a serious look on her face. She then looked around with a bit of uneasiness. “Is it all right for us to go in like that? Would there be an ambush?”
White flame and Hao Ren had met many times before; she held no grudges against him. However, as a demon hunter, she was still wary of an ambush. Ironically, her teacher was more at ease. “Don’t worry; the Countess will be waiting for openly.”
As it turned out, Hasse was right. In an unprecedented way, Hao Ren and his team stood in front of the hall of the Ancattero family and waited for the arrival of the demon hunters.
Both sides were expecting each other. They finally came face to face in front of the family hall.
Y’zaks was the most prominent figure standing at the doorway with Y’lisabet on his shoulders, and he was as conspicuous as a giant road sign. Hasse, the one-eyed demon hunter, was in front of his team, together with White Flame who had strikingly silver hair.
Hao Ren and his team were prepared and appeared at ease while the demon hunters seemed to be caught by surprise. Though Hasse was expecting to see Vivian there, the ‘Hello!’ placard had surprised him.
It was Lily’s weird idea. Hao Ren had been trying to distance himself from the weirdo husky, but he still felt like an idiot to stand on this side with the stupid placard.
If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.