Liu Xing resignedly discovered that his teammates were indeed unreliable. Chen Ling was a chatterbox, Bai Hecheng a drama king who relished adding extra flourishes to his role, and Wang Siyi seemed the lone wolf type, unpredictable in his willingness to cooperate with the team. As for Wang Qi, although not as eccentric as the other three, Liu Xing could tell he was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any provocation from Bai Hecheng...
In short, the future looked bleak.
Grumbling aside, the plot must go on, and Liu Xing felt it was time to "get acquainted" with Bai Hecheng and the others.
So, feigning surprise, Liu Xing turned towards Bai Hecheng and company, "Oh, did your car break down too? My friend and I got a flat tire while driving here."
Wang Qi was about to speak when Bai Hecheng interrupted, "So the taxi at the entrance of the town was yours? I was wondering who would park their car so inconsiderately, blocking half of the entryway and making it difficult for the rest of us to park."
Liu Xing was at a loss for words—Bai Hecheng was not just a drama king, but apparently had a talent for sarcasm as well.
Chen Ling, somewhat embarrassed, scratched his head and said helplessly, "I parked it because as I was trying to reverse back to Manchester, all four tires blew out at once, so I had no choice but to leave it there."
Wang Qi nodded, about to say something, when Bai Hecheng cut in again, "I see, you guys have terrible luck. But that was an accident; ours was sheer folly—Wang Qi here forgot to refuel the car. Can you believe that? How silly can you get?"
Liu Xing noticed Wang Qi clenching his fists, veins bulging on his forehead—clearly enraged by Bai Hecheng's words. However, Wang Qi remembered they were in the midst of a Cthulhu role-playing game and restrained from lashing out to avoid any mishaps.
Liu Xing mused that if this were the real world, Wang Qi would have definitely given Bai Hecheng a thorough thrashing...
Wang Siyi, as always, appeared indifferent to the entire scene, silently eating his breakfast.
At that moment, the Innkeeper approached with another breakfast and set it before Bai Hecheng, "Did your car run out of gas? When Old John returns, I'll have him fill it up for you, but you'll need to pay for the fuel first."
Liu Xing was about to reach for his wallet to cover the fuel cost, but Bai Hecheng, nonchalantly pulling out his own wallet, took out a card, "Can I pay by card?"
The room filled with a palpable awkwardness.
In an English village like Eins, Liu Xing and Chen Ling had practically traversed the entire town looking for an auto repair shop and had not spotted even an ATM, let alone expect a small tavern to accept card payments.
Realizing his mistake, Bai Hecheng retracted his bank card back into his wallet, took out his mobile phone, and asked, "Then, can I use Alipay?"
The awkwardness intensified.
Unable to bear it any longer, Liu Xing drew a hundred-pound note from his wallet and handed it to the Innkeeper, "Please, help them fill up their car as well."
The Innkeeper accepted the money with a nod, gave Bai Hecheng a baffled sigh, and departed.
Liu Xing felt certain that in the eyes of the Innkeeper, Bai Hecheng had been thoroughly categorized as a fool.
Regarding Bai Hecheng, he continued to grumble at this juncture, "What kind of shabby place is this? It's bad enough that you can't swipe a card, but to not even accept Alipay—this place really is the back of beyond."
The people present, including Wang Siyi, who had been silently eating, all looked at Bai Hecheng with speechless expressions. After exchanging glances, they reached a unanimous conclusion: if someone were to die first during this expedition, it would undoubtedly be Bai Hecheng.
Since Liu Xing had struck up a conversation with Bai Hecheng and his two companions, he naturally assumed the role of an old hand and joined their table. They chatted about this and that, casually revealing some of their background in the process.
Unfortunately, after some probing, Liu Xing discovered that Bai Hecheng and his companions were not from the same association as him. However, fortunately, Wang Qi and Bai Hecheng's skill sets were both combat-oriented. Wang Qi was a physical education university student with over a decade of wrestling experience, while Bai Hecheng, a philosophy student, had cultivated his own taunting ability since childhood. Often offending people and even sparking conflicts, Bai Hecheng had taken it upon himself to learn various fighting techniques, including Muay Thai.
Wang Siyi, on the other hand, was similar to Liu Xing in being support-oriented, but with a stronger inclination towards exploration. This was due to Wang Siyi's profession as a journalist, particularly one working in Hong Kong.
Together with Chen Ling, a former soldier, Liu Xing felt that the team composition was rather well-assembled: three frontliners handling combat, a journalist gathering ample intelligence, and himself responsible for replenishing health and SAN values. With a steady and firm strategy, they should be able to...
Well, Liu Xing didn't actually believe his teammates would proceed with such caution, especially since he suspected Bai Hecheng might prematurely taunt a mythological creature.
Just then, the Innkeeper brought over five small plaques, saying, "My dear friends, these are passes for the Castle, entrusted to me by the Castle's master himself. If there are visitors who wish to tour the Castle, it's my job to hand these to them. Since you can't leave Eins Town today, why not visit the Castle? I believe the Castle's master would be most welcoming and willing to have you share some stories of your journey in exchange for lodging at the Castle."
Liu Xing and the others accepted the small plaques from the Innkeeper and noticed to their surprise that the design on them was the Elder Sign!
Frowning, Liu Xing thought that if the Castle's master used the Elder Sign as a symbol for the passes, it was likely that the walls of the Castle were also inscribed with it, indicating that the master knew of mythological creatures and intentionally kept them at bay.
Therefore, Liu Xing conjectured that the Castle's master might be a magician or something of the sort, rather than the mythological entity he initially suspected—the Castle first struck him as a haven for vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and the like.
However, returning to reality, sometimes humans could be more difficult to deal with than mythological creatures!
After fiddling with the pass for a while, Bai Hecheng suddenly said with excitement, "I've never stayed in a Castle before; let's hurry up and finish our meal, then go for a visit!"
For the first time, everyone agreed with Bai Hecheng's suggestion. It was only half-past nine in the morning, and they estimated that they would arrive at the Castle before eleven. After staying in the Castle for over twelve hours, it wouldn't even be midnight yet. And in the world of Cthulhu after midnight, the danger level rose exponentially.
So, they quickly finished their breakfasts, and, after unanimously rejecting Bai Hecheng's request to pack another meal, they headed towards the Castle under Wang Siyi's lead.
The reason Wang Siyi took charge was due to his navigational skills. Simply put, Wang Siyi could find the shortest route to the Castle and also memorize it, which would be much more convenient for Liu Xing and the others when the time came to leave, or rather, to flee from Eins Town.