The skinny werewolf, perhaps overwhelmed by the immense setbacks he'd suffered today, coupled with the overwhelming impact of a younger werewolf who insisted on being partners with vampires, unleashed all his complaints. Kevin was stunned, finally concluding, "...You speak Chinese quite well."
Casa Eben watched his companion's disgraceful display of disgraceful behavior with a cold eye. Then he snorted, "Enough, Eun! Isn't it humiliating to be defeated by a vampire?"
The skinny werewolf's name was Eun. He sighed, glanced at Casa Eben, then set his sights on Vivian. "I admit defeat. Fight or kill me, as you please. Werewolves don't negotiate with vampires. But I want to know who you are. Our combined strength is already a formidable force within our tribe, yet you defeated us all by yourself. How pathetic!"
Kevin wanted to slap him in the face: Are you even speaking the truth? What do you mean by being defeated by Vivian alone? Kevin did fight, too, didn't he? Even if it was just one punch, and that landed on a hapless, almost exhausted man...
"The Countess who summoned the Red Moon is the one standing before you," Kasa Eben coughed, his voice tinged with gritted teeth. "She's not as formidable as the records say, but she's still no match for me..."
"That weird Countess?!" Eun jumped up in shock, his previous composure gone. He stared at Vivian in bewilderment. "One of the oldest vampires... you're still alive?!"
"Why is everyone wishing me dead?" Vivian frowned. "And how did you keep track of me? I didn't even know I had that title... Did I leave such a deep impression on them when I fought the Eben family?"
Eun gave Vivian a strange look. "Do you really want to hear it?" Vivian nodded affirmatively, and Youn gritted his teeth. "Alright, after I've heard this, you'll kill me. Here's what's written about you: the Countess who summoned the Red Moon, your exact family and lifespan are unknown, and you're an ancient solitary vampire. You're a strange creature who mingles with humans, acting on your own, with erratic behavior, and have fought with nearly every race. But you've also formed alliances with nearly every race. You're not afraid of sunlight, garlic, holy water, or anything harmful to vampires. Based on this, you might be one of the original vampire nobles. Perhaps due to your age, you suffer from severe amnesia and intermittent lethargy. You're neurotic and manic, to the point where you can't remember your own name. Furthermore, for unknown reasons, you're extremely poor. There's a record of you raiding a werewolf village for lack of food, only to steal a chicken. I'm done, you'll kill me."
Kevin: "...Originally, Vivian probably wouldn't kill you, but now I guess she's going to kill you." Vivian's forehead bulged with blood, and a cold, bloody air whirred around her. She gritted her teeth and stared at the werewolves before her. "Is your whole family insane? Is it really necessary to record all this nonsense in a diary?"
Kevin quickly patted Vivian's shoulder to soothe her. "Don't worry, don't worry. If you behaved a little more normally, you wouldn't leave such a deep impression."
Vivian felt she would never be able to count on the man beside her to learn how to comfort others.
Lily squatted on the ground, studying the small stone for a long time, then suddenly stood up and said to Casa Eben, "You guys go. I need to go home."
Casa Eben still couldn't believe that a werewolf would willingly associate with vampires. It seriously violated his values. He looked at Lily suspiciously, as if trying to detect signs of magical control. Finally, he muttered, "Do you really want to stay with these people? And there's a vampire among them... Are you sure you're not controlled?"
"I don't think Bat is that bad," Lily nodded. "She even cooks for me every day. I don't know what deep hatreds there are between other werewolves and vampires. I've grown up alone. Bat is the first and only vampire I've ever known, and I think... she's okay. Besides, there are complicated reasons why I'm living with my landlord. He's... Anyway, I can't just leave without getting in trouble."
Lily's exposition to this point was exceptional. You can't expect a Husky to be so cunning and playful with words, so she glossed over many things that couldn't be said openly. Finally, Kevin added, "I don't think you two are pure villains. You're probably just here to rally your tribe. If you don't continue causing trouble here, how about we just keep our distance? I'm telling you, I have more high-end fighters than you think. Vivian is just the second-in-command. Our strongest fighter hasn't even arrived yet..."
Vivian coughed softly, "Why are you telling people that?"
Kasa Eben and Eun Eben exchanged a glance. Reflecting each other's eyes, they saw their own awful appearance. The two werewolves, bloodied, ragged, their hair charred, and reeking of burnt flesh, felt a surge of anger. They faced a bizarre situation they had never encountered before. They encountered strange vampires and werewolves they had never seen before, oh, and a strange human too. There was no point in wasting any more time. "I thought it was just a normal recruitment mission, tsk tsk," Kasa Eben shook his head. "Alright, let's go. But we need to report today's events to the clan. As the Chinese say, 'a frank person doesn't speak in secret.' Let me be clear with you upfront: your strange situation here... the Eben clan elders will surely be very interested, especially with this strange Countess reappearing. The elders in the clan should be eager to say hello."
"Great, it's been ages since I've seen my old acquaintances," Vivian shrugged nonchalantly. "Eight out of ten times I meet them, I end up fighting. But this time, it's on the landlord's property. If those old undeads are willing to talk things over... I can have a good chat with you. By the way, how many of your old undeads are still alive?"
"Not many," Kasa Eben said with a wry smile. "A tall tree attracts the wind. The Eben clan is the last remaining werewolf clan, attracting the attention of many witchers. We've endured and struggled for years. After all these years of hard work, we've basically wiped out all the elders in the clan..." Kevin watched in amazement as the two sworn enemies, who had just been at loggerheads and shared a sworn racial feud, now engaged in a casual conversation like normal people. A wave of dissonance washed over him, but the hint of resignation in Kasa Eben's words gave him a glimmer of understanding: Werewolves and vampires were indeed at odds, fighting eight out of ten times they met. But even in this hostile state, they both had their heads in the sand. No one liked pointless battles. In these turbulent times brought on by the witchers, even vampires and werewolves had moments like this to cool their anger and collectively curse the world for being a jerk.
Kevin's perspective might not be entirely accurate; after all, it's difficult for an ordinary person to comprehend the thoughts of these "old monsters" who often lived for hundreds or even thousands of years. But he at least had a vague understanding: even those alien species with sworn feuds were more than simply conflicts. The grudges between alien species weren't as simple as one hitting the other. This world was more complex than one might imagine. "Speaking of which, why did you expand your activities here?" Vivian asked curiously, a sudden memory coming to mind. "I remember you were always active in Europe and Latin America. There are very few wild werewolves in Asia, so it shouldn't be worth all the trouble, right? Look at you two, you went to so much trouble to find a half-baked werewolf, and in the end you didn't even take him away. What a waste."
Lily wrinkled her nose and grimaced at Vivian, clearly annoyed by the word "half-baked." "We're not the only ones taking action," Eun Eben glanced at Vivian. "You've been isolated for too long. How long has it been since you've contacted your own kind? Many 'outliers' are active right now, gathering scattered members of their clan. The Eben family is just one of them."
Vivian was stunned. "Gathering members? Many families are doing this? What are you planning? A counterattack against the witchers?"
"I don't know," Kasa Eben grinned. "I just heard some big day is coming, and many people are preparing for it... maybe they're planning a counterattack."