Turning around, Karen saw the black cat Paul had somehow appeared at the head of his bed, crouched there, its cat eyes fixed on him, occasionally tilting its neck as if sizing him up.

  “Paul, tsk tsk tsk tsk...”

  Karen tried to tease the black cat using the universal “pet-calling language” for cats and dogs.

  Paul tilted its head, not taking the bait.

  Karen walked forward, and the black cat wasn’t afraid—after all, Karen was family. Karen reached out and patted the cat’s head.

  “Meow...”

  Paul turned its head away, seemingly not fond of this kind of affection.

  “Why did Grandpa give you such a tongue-twister of a name,” Karen muttered to himself, “Paul... Paul, huh, it’d be fresher to just call you ‘Pu’er’.”

  The black cat shifted its body; clearly, it wasn’t pleased with this new, similar-sounding name.

  Mina came over with a glass of water and said:

  “Mom is on the phone looking for Dad.”

  “Hm?”

  In this era, “cell phones” hadn’t appeared yet, so calling someone on a landline was actually quite inefficient.

  Besides, if nothing unexpected happened, Uncle Mason was probably out drifting somewhere in his hearse.

  After bringing Karen the water, Mina skillfully picked up a rag to wipe the windowsill. Originally, the Immoles family had two maids—one for cleaning and chores, the other for cooking—but after Uncle Mason’s family and Aunt Winnie and her daughter returned, Grandpa fired both maids.

  Now, the housework was done by Mina together with her younger brother Grant and Aunt’s daughter Grace, while the meals were alternately prepared by Aunt Mary and Aunt Winnie.

  Everyone in the family had “work” to do, so Karen was actually the most idle one.

  This also indirectly showed that Grandpa Dennis, always so dignified, really did treat his eldest grandson differently from the others.

  At that moment, Grandpa came upstairs.

  Mina immediately stood up straight, and Karen, holding the glass of water, also stood up.

  Often, whether a family has rules or not doesn’t depend on so-called “upbringing” or “tradition,” but on whether there’s someone in the house you respect and fear.

  Dennis’s gaze swept over his grandchildren, lingering a bit longer on his grandson, but he said nothing, just opened his room door and went in.

  The tense atmosphere in the air only began to “flow” again after the door closed.

  Karen let out a breath and looked down at Mina, noticing she was doing the same.

  “Grandpa seems busy every day,” Karen said.

  “Yes, there’s a lot to do at the church, and Grandpa often goes on business trips,” Mina replied.

  As they spoke, Grandpa’s door opened from inside, and he came out again, now dressed in “priest” clothes and carrying a black case.

  “I won’t be home for lunch,” Dennis said.

  “Oh, okay, Grandpa,” Mina responded immediately.

  Dennis went downstairs.

  A moment later, Karen saw Grandpa walking into the yard downstairs through the windowsill.

  The clothes Dennis wore clearly had a religious look, but there was something different about them, giving off a very specific feeling.

  Maybe to outsiders, Dennis being a “priest” helped the family business—after all, his position made it easy to gain the trust of churchgoers, which meant... more business for the family.

  But Karen didn’t think it was that simple, and only when Grandpa opened the yard gate and left did Karen suddenly realize the source of that “feeling.”

  “Our grandpa is a bit like Uncle Nine.”

  “Brother, who’s Uncle Nine?”

  “A priest who specializes in catching vampires.”

  “Oh, really? From a play?”

  “Yeah, that’s right. Mina, do we need to mop everywhere here?”

  “Yes, and the stairs too.”

  “I’ll help you.”

  “But brother, what about your health?”

  “It’s fine.”

  Karen started helping Mina mop the floor, then went to mop the stairs. When it was time to change the water bucket, Karen went out to the yard, where there was a big faucet that filled faster.

  At that moment, Uncle Mason drove his modified “shell” car back. Ron and Paul unloaded a stretcher, on which an old man was lying; Karen saw white hair under the white cloth.

  Uncle Mason ran into the yard ahead of them, not even noticing Karen fetching water in the corner, and went straight to Aunt Mary.

  “Father is looking for you,” Aunt Mary said.

  “Where’s Father?” Uncle Mason’s eyes looked a bit evasive.

  It was the look of someone who’d done something wrong and was afraid of being scolded by an elder. Out of professional habit from his previous life, Karen paid attention to these details.

  “Father just went out,” Aunt Mary said.

  “This...” Uncle Mason seemed to let out a long breath, then said, “It’s fine, it’s fine, I’ll go look for Father, maybe he’s at the church.”

  “Okay, go ahead then.”

  Uncle Mason immediately ran out, leaving the car behind.

  Aunt Mary didn’t notice anything odd about her husband,