Pretend to be a ghost

Lin Feng glanced around the situation in the tunnel, confirming that the ground below was solid and not too deep. He jumped down in one go. As soon as he landed, there was a resounding "oh my god," which startled Muyun and Vivian. Muyun leaned over and looked at the dark hole, asking, "Landlord, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just that... this place below is really... extraordinary!" Lin Feng stood beneath the tunnel, squinting as he observed the surroundings, unable to contain his amazement.

Below was pitch black, much darker than the night outside, challenging even his enhanced night vision. Apart from a faint moonlight seeping in through the entrance, there was no other source of light in the tunnel. Lin Feng felt that even his recently acquired night vision ability was approaching its limits. He had to concentrate fully to see clearly.

It seemed that his night vision ability still relied on normal optical principles and had not reached the level of scanning the surroundings with mental power as the legends described. He wondered if it would evolve in the future.

When he first jumped down, he was standing on a slightly higher platform. This platform seemed to be specially designed for the underground residents to return to the surface through the hidden door of the small chapel. In front of the platform, there was a small slope. As Lin Feng walked down the slope, he saw something astonishing: a tunnel, exceeding all expectations.

Indeed, there was an underground structure beneath the castle, and its scale was even larger than Lin Feng had anticipated, surpassing the typical underground dimensions of most classical castles. Before Lin Feng, there were three broad passages extending in different directions. These passages were reinforced by large stones and black columns of some ancient material that had long lost its original appearance, yet they had not collapsed after all these years. Even though Lin Feng was an outsider to architecture, he found it quite astonishing. Each passage was wide enough for a medium-sized car to drive through, with a height of over three meters. They converged into a T-junction in front of Lin Feng, and the junction was as wide as an underground hall.

It seemed that the hidden door of the small chapel led to a "node" in the castle's underground passages, where several tunnels intersected.

There were two light rustling sounds behind him, and Vivian and Muyun also jumped down from the tunnel one after another. They walked down the slope of the small platform and joined Lin Feng, witnessing the scene before them.

"This... it seems that the Lord of Joford was really extraordinary. The underground palace he built has exceeded the standard." Vivian, an insightful vampire, immediately noticed the discrepancy in size between the tunnel and the castle above. "Could this place have been a battleground for years? As a result, the local lord constructed such a large underground refuge? Even with three forked passages..."

Lin Feng glanced at Vivian strangely. "Didn't you stay away from England after 1190? Why are you so familiar with the size of English castles from hundreds of years ago? I was just wondering..."

"Just because I wasn't in England doesn't mean I couldn't travel in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and France, right?" Vivian looked at Lin Feng disdainfully. "I may be a bit poor, but back then, not coming to England for nearly a thousand years wasn't because I couldn't afford the fare—it was because I was traveling in surrounding countries. The ancient castles in this area hundreds of years ago were all similar. Despite the differences in structure, I have a good sense of the scale of their facilities."

By now, Muyun had already circled around the three-way junction of the tunnel, sniffing the remaining smells in the air. She shouted loudly, "This way, there's the smell of a person here!"

The werewolf girl had completely become a smell radar. Lin Feng felt like he was walking with a police dog...

Under Muyun's lead, the three of them advanced towards the depths of the underground palace (which was already large enough to be called a palace). At first, Lin Feng was worried that the long-neglected underground passages might be dangerous due to lack of ventilation. However, after walking for a while, he found the air here to be very fresh, and there was always a breeze brushing his face from an unknown source. It seemed that there were still ventilation holes leading to the surface that had not been blocked, further demonstrating the tremendous effort the original owner of the castle had put into building this fortress. 

Vivian analyzed beside him, "I used to think that the Lord of Joford was just an ordinary nobleman with a castle, but now it seems that he was quite extraordinary. The size of the underground structure here, as well as the quantity of stones used in the castle above, indicates that this was once a very strong fortress. However, this place is in a plain area, lacking any strategic military significance—even as a fortress, it lacks favorable geographical conditions. I don't understand why the Lord of Joford built such a strong fortress here."

"Wasn't it said that the Joford family fell into disrepair due to internal rebellion?" Lin Feng guessed randomly. "Perhaps it was because of continuous civil wars that the lord here built the castle like a fortress."

"Utter nonsense," Vivian glanced at Lin Feng sideways. "Do you think it only takes a short time to build such a large underground structure? And this was hundreds of years ago. It would require the efforts of several generations. I'm afraid the Joford family has been reinforcing and expanding this underground palace for two hundred years. And don't forget, this is England. Unlike the ancient BUG dynasties in China that would conscript tens of thousands of commoners to dig mountains and open lakes, the feudal lords here had limited resources at their disposal. For him to undertake such a large project... it's suspicious."

As Vivian spoke, she quickened her pace and walked ahead. By now, it was completely dark around them, and even with enhanced night vision, a bit of light was needed. So, Lin Feng took out his data terminal, turned on the standby screen, and used it as a flashlight, instantly illuminating the surroundings as bright as day. The data terminal scrolled with rows of subtitles: "The device believes your usage is incorrect... The device believes your usage is incorrect... The device suggests you search for the appropriate measures to take at this moment..."

Lin Feng pretended not to see it. This data terminal was completely unreliable.

The three of them walked in the tunnel for a few minutes. Lin Feng felt that the ground ahead was slowly sloping downward, indicating that the tunnel led to a deeper level. The paranormal enthusiasts and Nangong on the surface had already been temporarily forgotten. He felt that staying in this pitch-black place was at least a bit better, keeping him away from the troubles on the surface. If he could find the "person" he was looking for underground, that would be perfect.

"So, the haunting of the castle is actually caused by someone pretending to be a ghost?" Muyun felt that walking like this was boring and, despite their usual grievances, took the initiative to talk to Vivian. "Who could it be? And is there really a dead spirit in this castle?"

"Humph, the one pretending to be a ghost is definitely a person. People are the most complex creatures;

 who knows what they're thinking all day." Vivian snorted. "As for the dead spirits... hey, landlord, why did you just shiver?!"

Lin Feng cried out, "I just remembered that there are ghosts down here! I didn't think about anything and just jumped down... Now I'm feeling a bit scared."

Vivian "comforted" him maliciously, "Don't be afraid; dealing with demons and monsters will sooner or later become your daily work."

Just then, Muyun, who was leading the way ahead, suddenly sniffed the air and said, "There's a person ahead, very close by, seems to have stopped moving."

The tunnel ahead finally reached its end, and there was a corner. On the other side of the corner, faint light could be seen, and Lin Feng was about to take a step forward when Vivian grabbed his arm. "Wait, it's best to disguise ourselves. Don't forget to hide your identity in front of ordinary people."

As Vivian spoke, a thin layer of black mist emanated from her, but due to Lin Feng's strange "magic immunity" physique, Vivian couldn't directly affect him with her spells. So, she could only use this layer of mist to conceal their forms. Looking at himself covered in a layer of black mist, Lin Feng suddenly felt that the three of them were the most suitable group for pretending to be ghosts...

Vivian whispered to the other two, "Don't leave the range of the black mist, especially you, big dog, don't wrinkle your nose. My mist is mint-scented! This time, I specifically removed the bloody smell to prevent you from making a fuss."

The three of them silently advanced under the cover of the black mist. After turning around the corner of the tunnel, they indeed saw the back of a person.

A short, chubby man, wearing a headlamp and carrying a strange box, was anxiously pacing in front of a stone wall.

It was Angus, the innkeeper.