Chapter 285: Chapter 285
He shook his head and replied, "A Giant Alien Beast crawling out from a mirror or a windowpane—I have never heard of such a thing."
With that response from Su Yan, the conversation came to a halt.
「Five minutes went by.」
The two of them finally reached their destination and got their first glimpse of the ancient mansion from the rumors.
The mansion covered a large area of land, estimated to be around four to five hundred square meters.
If you included the surrounding vegetable gardens, chicken coops, duck pens, goose sheds, lotus pond, and so on, the total area was roughly a little over ten thousand square meters.
It appeared to be similar in size to a standard four-hundred-meter track, qualifying it as a small manor.
This indicated that the owner of the ancient mansion was quite wealthy.
Under the illumination of the lights and the moonlight, Su Yan carefully surveyed the mansion’s surroundings. Discover more novels at novel·fıre·net
Overall, it was a residence brimming with rural charm.
It was hard to imagine that it was suspected of housing a Half-step Epic Level Shadow Object.
"Are you two here to rest?"
Just as Su Yan was examining the surroundings, an old but vigorous voice came down from upstairs in the mansion.
Su Yan looked up in the direction of the voice.
What he saw was an elderly man standing at a second-floor window.
The old man’s hair and beard were white, and by appearance, he was at least in his seventies or eighties.
Yet his body remained robust without the slightest stoop.
His eyes were bright and full of vitality.
He showed no signs of being in the twilight of his years.
This must be the mansion’s owner, an aged Retired Monster Hunter.
As Su Yan pondered this, Sister Zhou replied,
"Yes, Old Hao, we’ve been hunting for over two hours and are feeling a bit tired."
"So we thought we might rest in your mansion, if that’s alright with you?"
The mansion’s owner, who had been letting people stay for free ever since his retirement, naturally had no objections.
In fact, he seemed more than willing.
He smiled and said, "Of course, there’s no problem. I built this house here precisely for you younger Hunters to use as a resting place during your hunts."
"Then we thank you, Old Hao."
"No need for thanks. Just tell me about your hunting experiences later."
Just as the echo of his voice faded, Old Hao’s figure vanished from the window.
Then, the sound of unhurried footsteps descending the stairs followed.
"Sister Zhou, it seems that the mansion’s owner really is as hospitable as you’ve heard, fond of welcoming Monster Hunters who come here at night," Su Yan said, then added, "But I don’t know if it’s just my imagination. I sensed a hint of impatience on his enthusiastic face."
"Did you? I didn’t notice that," Sister Zhou remarked, thinking Su Yan was being overly sensitive.
The sound of footsteps approached, and the mansion’s large door CLICKED open.
The figure appearing at the entrance was the same mansion’s owner who had been talking from the second-floor window.
Upon a closer look, Su Yan noticed that the old man’s stature was even more robust than it had seemed from the window above.
He was estimated to be over 1.9 meters tall, the type of muscular man who looked like he could knock an ordinary person flat with a single punch.
As Su Yan scrutinized the mansion’s owner, a biological information panel popped up deep in his mind.
[Skill]: Devouring Soul
Holy shit!? A Half-Step Epic Level Creature? When Su Yan saw the Creature Level on the mansion owner’s panel, he was taken aback. What did Half-Step Epic Level mean? It was the same level as Li Duanda, the former President of the Jing University Student Association, and Zhang Tao, the Deputy Director of the Nanjiang Province Education Bureau—truly the cream of the crop. It seemed the mansion’s owner must have been quite something in his younger days.
"The two of you, come in," the mansion’s owner said, then turned and walked back into the house.
"We’re imposing on you then," Sister Zhou said as she stepped inside first, followed closely by Su Yan.
The inside of the house was spacious, with very minimalist furniture.
There were no fancy decorations.
There were just tables and chairs, along with an old-looking LCD TV.
"You two sit here for a while and have some tea first," said Old Hao, as he pulled out two chairs at the dining table, gesturing for Su Yan and Sister Zhou to sit down. "There’s tea on the table; help yourselves."
Then he added, "I’ll go to the kitchen to make some food for you; it won’t take long."
Saying this, he walked at a leisurely pace towards the kitchen located further inside the house.
"Thank you, Old Hao," the two called out to their host’s retreating figure, before moving to sit down at the dining table.
After sitting down, Sister Zhou fetched two cups, first pouring a cup of tea for Su Yan and then for herself.
Afterwards, she sipped her tea and said in disbelief, "I hadn’t expected Old Hao to really be as hospitable as the rumors say."
"By welcoming strangers into his house to rest without hesitation, isn’t he afraid of encountering malicious individuals?"
Su Yan laughed and said, "You don’t understand. He often takes care of Monster Hunters , so he’s built up a great deal of goodwill."
"Under such circumstances, anyone who dares to target him or harm him will likely become a public enemy overnight, denounced by everyone."
"Furthermore, this old mansion looks simple, more akin to a rural retirement home, and likely doesn’t have anything particularly valuable."
"Tell me, if you were a villain, would you engage in such a thankless task?"