Chapter 1450: Another Surprise
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With his arms crossed and his body leaning on a tombstone, Hao Ren gave the demon hunters the side eye. Little did the demon hunters know that Hao Ren was nervous. His heart was beating so fast like it was in vibration mode. Hao Ren kept his facial muscles tight to conceal his nervousness. He was confident in his acting skills and that the infiltration method that Ha.s.se taught him would work. But the problem was, confidence was one thing, and nervousness was another. The demon hunters were the best of the best in smelling out a rat. They were cautious as Lily guarded her bones. No one could guarantee if the leader of the demon hunters would suddenly smell something fishy and decide to draw his dagger.
Nonetheless, Hao Ren successfully fooled the demon hunters in the end. The demon hunters looked at each other. They did not show hostility and suspicion but were only curious about Hao Ren.
It seemed that their vigilance and killing instincts were only effective on the otherworldlings. When they came face to face with a person who did not possess innate hostility, the demon hunters were just as good as ordinary people in terms of intuition.
“I am the head of the Hunter squad, Lockheed, the master of demon hunters,” said the demon hunter. “We were not aware of the happenings here. I did not know that a Stalker was here as well.”
That meant there was an intelligence blindspot in the area. Hao Ren, the “Stalker” had to explain himself first.
“My current name is Hao Ren. I used to be a member of the Nordic Battlegroup. Who can tell where the other members of the Battlegroup are now.” Hao Ren pretended to come from a disbanded ancient Battlegroup and now lived the life as a Stalker, just like Ha.s.se had taught him. He had also learned the art of intimidation from the 10,000-year-old poor vampire by flaunting his seniority card. And he was good at that. “I have been wandering for thousands of years, hunting the rats in all corners of the world. The last time I contacted Coldpath was a hundred years ago. And you are a Hunter group? As far as I know, the Hunters are not very active now. Instead, there are more and more Stalkers like me.”
The master demon hunter who claimed to be Lockheed forced a smile. He thought that the man before him was what the elders termed as the Lone Wolf. After the end of the Mythological War, the demise of the G.o.ds also led to the simultaneous disbanding of the demon hunters’ sacred Battlegroups. The killing instinct had blinded the mind’s eyes of many demon hunters who plunged themselves into the ruins of various G.o.ds. They continued to hunt and pursue the otherworldlings as if they had lost their mind, losing contact with their organization as a result. Some of the demon hunters had resumed contact with Coldpath, but for various reasons, they were unable to rejoin their primary forces. These demon hunters had forever become the Stalkers, whom the elders called the Lone Wolves.
Asides from returning to the various demon hunter bases around the world to replenish their supplies and exchange information, the Stalkers almost had no communication with other demon hunters. Some of them had even discarded their real names and used only fake names.
It was a trouble to deal with the Lone Wolves because fanaticism and years of hunting alone had shaped weird characters in these guys. They tended to focus on hunting alone and were hostile to everything—including their compatriots—that got in the way of them doing their job.
In short, Stalkers were a bunch of guys who suffered from severe post-traumatic syndrome but declined treatment.
It seemed lucky that this Lone Wolf looked less hostile and relatively easier to deal with.
“We have an important mission here,” Lockheed explained the Hunter group’s intention. “To deal with an ancient otherworldling that might be waking up soon, an elder has called this Hunter group. We did not plan to hunt the witches initially. What is happening here is just incidental.”
Hao Ren’s eyebrows twitched. These guys indeed came for Vivian, and on their way, they raided this place.
Just then another demon hunter emerged from the fog and came up to Lockheed. “Master, the witches have escaped. A werewolf using some exotic weapon broke past our encirclement. The weapon looks a little like a relic of the Mythological Era.”
“I got it.” Lockheed nodded. “They always leave traces. The magical energy of this land will subside after the full moon. They will not be at large for long.”
Then Lockheed turned to look at Hao Ren. “It seems that our random actions have ruined your hunting operation. I apologize. But I would like to know more details. You have been tracking those witches. Why not kill them?”
“I am catching a big fish.” Hao Ren crossed his arms and looked into the night sky. The fog had begun to disappear, and the moon slowly came out in the sky. “I discovered that the witches were looking for an ancient ruin, which is very likely related to an ancient otherworldling. So I decided to wait and track them from afar. Tonight should be their last meeting, from which I should be able to get the most crucial information. But you guys stormed in and ruined everything. What is worse, you have let them get away!”
Lockheed was startled, and then his expression froze. He began to think in the direction that Hao Ren wanted him to think. “Did you say an ancient ruin? And it is about an ancient otherworldling?”
“Most likely that is what you are after.” Hao Ren shot Lockheed a stern look. “Now do you know why I am so angry? You have not only ruined my hunting but also defeated your own actions. Those witches were talking about the method of accessing the ruin and the specific location of the seal. A Blood Mage was just about to tell the spell that could remove the seal—you only had to come one minute later, one minute! They would have revealed all the information themselves. d.a.m.n you, couldn’t you all control yourselves?”
Hao Ren let out a long sigh and looked up at the sky again—he tried very hard not to laugh.
Lockheed’s face looked no better than Hao Ren. The demon hunter was baffled. “The werewolf excited our killing instinct although we just wanted to observe initially. But… Wait a minute, you were lurking in the cemetery and yet not affected by the killing instinct? And the werewolf did not sniff you out?”
The questions stunned Hao Ren. He quickly hemmed a couple of times before saying, “I have learned some special skills in the thousands of years of hunting. I can hide my breath and suppress my killing impulse, which is a necessary skill for a Stalker. Otherwise, how can I act alone in a place full of dark forces?”
Lockheed looked at Hao Ren carefully, surprised but not overly suspicious. It was true that there was no way to get rid of the killing instinct, but some senior demon hunters could momentarily control and even conceal their breaths through specialized training. Those were the necessary skills for demon hunters. These skills might have a limited effective range and did not wholly suppress the innate hostility, but it was still possible to stay undetected by the otherworldlings as long as he was within a certain distance.
Then disappointment hit Lockheed. “d.a.m.n it! I will be responsible for the blunder I have made.”
“People make mistakes.” Hao Ren began to comfort him. “Instead of harping on the issue, why not focus on redeeming yourself? Let us talk about the ancient otherworldlings—”
“No, I have to admit my mistake to my elder. As for whether or not the elder will hand down a punishment, it up to him to decide.” Lockheed was such a one-track mind and did not fall for the bait. “But do not worry, the elder is on his way here. He will be here soon, and we can explain the situation in front of him.”
“Elder? You mean the head of this Hunter group? He is coming?”
Lockheed was not the head of the Hunter group but only a leader of a vanguard. If it was not mistaken, this vanguard was only acting independently tonight. At first, Hao Ren just wanted to fish more information from this vanguard leader and leave, trying his best not to meet the unknown elder. But the situation changed quickly when Lockheed told him that an elder was on his way here.
If Hao Ren made up an unconvincing excuse and left, Lockheed would be suspicious of him. Hao Ren could only continue to play along, banking on the weapons and badges that Ha.s.se gave him and with finger crossed, even the elders from Coldpath would not be able to find anything suspicious.
Just then the demon hunters on the outer perimeter alerted Lockheed, who now looked solemn. “The elder is here.”
Hao Ren quickly adjusted his posture and placed the dagger on his waist and emblem on his clothes in more prominent positions so that he could gain the trust of the elder at first fight.
The fog in the cemetery quickly dissipated. It seemed that the arrival of the mighty demon hunter had accelerated the disintegration of the magic spells in the place. A tall, gray-haired senior demon hunter had crossed the perimeter and walked toward them. “Lockheed, I heard that there is a Stalker here?”
Hao Ren’s facial muscle stiffened when he heard the voice. Cold sweat began to rain down his forehead when he saw the elder. He quickly hid his dagger and emblem. Had it not been for against public decency, he would have taken off his demon-hunter suit as well.
Ha.s.se was the elder.
The set of camouflage equipment may have been able to fool all the elder demon hunters from Coldpath, but Ha.s.se would definitely find it familiar.