The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 461

Chapter 461: Hand Over

 

It would probably take some time for the people of Helcrown and the elves to become acquainted with each other, but the process should not be too difficult. The elves had a high affinity for foreign races, and the people of Helcrown, who were willing to follow Y’zaks to this world were all diehard followers. They were steadfast in their pursuit of the “Great Unification”. They embraced a multi-racial society without any criticisms.

There was another important reason: those who had the same misfortune sympathized with each other. Both parties had to flee their own country. When they met, the elves and the demons looked at each other with tears in their eyes…

One Helcrown settled down on the coast, the elves of Aerym started to fix the big, monstrous object. The engineers began to reshape the seafloor’s rock formations, fixing Helcrown onto the planet with incredible supernatural powers. The city also dispatched a group of staff to come into contact with the elves and check if Helcrown sustained any damages during the journey. After all, it was not a professional spacecraft. They did not know if there was any damage upon entering the atmosphere.

Lanina came to the beach after handing over some work to Zadamor. She met the ruler of Aerym for the first time, and soon found that her life form seemed to differ from ordinary people. Nonetheles, the smart demoness did not show it on her face. She bowed before Hilda with proper courtesy and said, “Your Majesty, thank you for your assistance. I have heard from our king—”

“You don’t have to be so courteous.” Hao Ren was the kind of guy who could not stand the diplomatic rhetoric. He interrupted Lanina before she could finish her sentence. “Just get along well with each other. Don’t get so tense and rigid. You’re all renting the land; just be good neighbors and look after each other…”

Lanina’s tail formed several knots in the air. The demoness was speeches after listening to Hao Ren. However, there was nothing she could do about it—it was his land. The situation was truly unprecedented: the representatives of the two civilizations were seriously engaged in a close encounter of the third kind. It was like being in a UN conference, but Hao Ren only took it as a few more new tenants in his house… What a different perspective!

Luckily, there was one person who was able to think further. Vivian reminded Y’zaks and Hilda, “It’s better for the two of you to agree on a mutually acceptable outline for co-existing from the outset. For example, your respective areas of activity and future expansion of the territory according to developmental needs. What do you do with your respective cultural conflicts? What about the problem of resources on this planet? How will trade between the two sides unfold? Even if the two civilizations come together in the future, as the contemporary rulers, the both of you will have to consider the long-term path of this nation as well. I have lived longer than you. I’ve seen too many civilizations rise and fall. An idealized alliance is unreliable. It’s best to make things clear.”

It looked weird when the vampire maiden said all these things with a youthful face…

Hilda’s body shimmered and she appeared to be thinking. She then nodded and said, “Vivian has a good point. I will proceed to arrange some investigations and meetings. I will set up an early and secure coexistence with our new neighbors.”

Then, she smiled and said, “It’s not really a big issue. The universe is so vast. We all know that the real wealth is in the depths of the stars. There is enough to feed countless generations. A race that looks at the entire universe does not waste its limited energy on scrambling for a planet. We just need to do a good job on preserving cultural harmony.”

Hao Ren also added a few words, “Considering your special immigration process, I think the goddess will have her focus on all of you. So, you also have to think about how to deal with the goddess in the future. Also, you have to keep in touch with me. I have to know about your situation at all times.”

Y’zaks found it to be very reasonable and nodded vigorously. “Yes, the goddess gave us the green light this time. And, I don’t know how many times she will have to take care of us in the future. By the way, Hilda, haven’t you already established a religion? Believe in the goddess. I think this religion can also be introduced to my people. Perhaps, this will be a good cultural bridge…”

The moment Y’zaks finished his words, Lanina’s tail suddenly stood up like a root stick. It trembled in the air like she received an electric shock. “My King, do you mean to promote faith in the goddess among the people?”

Y’zaks smiled and said, “What’s wrong with that? You know the goddess too. She’s a real goddess, and she’s worth following. We couldn’t have gotten here without her.”

Lanina looked a little conflicted and she said, “I know… but we’ve never worship God. Since you formed the legion, we’ve always held contempt for all forms of religious beliefs … Even propaganda is prettymuch mocked. It’s not easy to change habits that have lasted for hundreds of years.”

Y’zaks touched his chin and said, “Hmm, that makes sense. Anyway, we must slowly share the concept of a ‘goddess’ to everyone. This is a true goddess, not those false gods in our homeland. The goddess can’t be vilified. And, we must be grateful.”

Then Y’zaks asked Vimm casually, “How do you call on new believers? Although I’ve met the goddess a few times, I didn’t dare ask her about things like this.”

For a second, Vimm’s expression looked interesting. He hesitated and gazed at Hao Ren before he smiled. “Try to believe in the goddess a little. It’s free anyway.”

“… Are you serious?” Y’zaks asked.

Hao Ren and Vimm slapped their foreheads and said in unison, “The goddess is serious!”

“Oh,” Y’zaks said.

Looking at the busy scene of the city, Y’zaks pondered. Suddenly, he sighed and gave Lanina an order, “Let Zadamor run the city in the future. He’s good with internal affairs. He can manage the city and people better than you. There should be no war in the future, so you can help with the internal affairs and serve as a liaison between our new Planet Aerym and Earth. Y’lisabet is still young. She will be crowned queen after she reaches the age of 600. Before that… I’m going to bother the both of you.”

Lanina looked even more bewildered now. She gazed at Y’zaks and asked, “My King, do you… Aren’t you going to stay?”

“What am I staying for?” Y’zaks said and smiled. “Serathon said something quite right before he died. My time has passed. The reign of the old demon king has come to its end. I can only let the empire run in the form of a war machine, but what the people need now is a secure environment to recuperate and rebuild their culture. This is not something an old man like me can handle. I’m not even as good as Y’lisabet at this, so I should step down wisely. At least, I’m not going to be a fatuous king.”

Lanina immediately yelled, “How could you be a fatuous king…”

Y’zaks gently waved his hand and said, “I may not be fatuous during war, but it’s hard to say in times of peace. Kingship is not eternal. My child, you should be happy, for I am retiring from the throne, not being kicked out. I believe you as well as Zadamor will be able to maintain our empire before Y’lisabet’s coronation and continue to assist Y’lisabet after her succession. Oh, Zadamor has proven that he can do well in this aspect, and I believe that my adopted daughter will also do it well.”

Looking at Y’zaks’ resolute face, Lanina could only nod and say, “I got it.”

Y’zaks put Y’lisabet down from his shoulder. The little girl blinked her big eyes at her father, appearing like she did not really understand what her father just said. However, Hao Ren reckoned that the smart little girl probably understood it.

“My girl, remember this, queenship is not eternal,” Y’zaks said as he touched Y’lisabet’s head. “I told you many years ago that one day, my reign will reach its end, and you will take the crown…”

Hao Ren then covered his face and muttered, “If the old king is defeated one day, these words will partially be responsible for it…”

Chapter 462: Ready to Go Back

 

Y’zaks heard Hao Ren muttering and he asked, “What do you mean?”

Hao Ren laughed awkwardly and said, “It’s unlucky for you to say that. There was a king who said the same thing and he ended up killed by his own son. The country perished.”

Y’zaks immediately realized that this guy was starting to talk nonsense again, and he just ignored him.

The young Y’lisabet turned her head to look at the adults around her, then she sighed maturely and said, “Haih… An able man is always busy. I thought I could go back to a life where I didn’t have to worry about anything and have plenty of time to play. Who knew, dad decided to quit.”

Hao Ren never doubted if this little girl could understand Y’zaks’ words. He knew it the moment he met her. This seemingly underaged girl was actually really smart. How could an ordinary child pretend to be a mad demon king and take control of the situation?

Y’zaks entrusted the future of Helcrown to his trusted successor. During the two or three hundred years before Y’lisabet reached adulthood, the city would be led by his most trusted old housekeeper, the old veteran with the most seniority in the demon king’s legion, Zadamor. And he would in turn be assisted by Lanina. On the day of Y’lisabet’s coronation, the demon empire would have a new demon queen. When Hao Ren thought of it, he could not help but look at Y’lisabet up and down. How could a normal person expect this little girl who was less than 1.3 m high to actually be a crown princess?!

Y’lisabet noticed Hao Ren’s eyes. She immediately jumped and said, “I’m very smart! Don’t underestimate me…”

Y’zaks put his big hand on the little girl’s head and said, “You have a lot to learn. From now on, you have to work hard to be a crown princess. I’ve planned your future study plan. Knowledge of culture, history, and magic are basic. You have to add one more hour of basic fencing practice every day. You have a weak physique, so as a demon, you must exercise more. At least, a healthy body can support your use of great magic. Lanina will give you military lessons, and Zadamor will teach you about internal affairs, while Uncle Gordon will teach you the mechanics of magic. By the way, I have to get Uncle Hammer to prepare a set of learning materials for you. The engineering knowledge you learned previously’s too unsystematic. It has to be strengthened. Oh yes, you have to learn the cultural history of the elves of Aerym as well. You’ll be Queen in the future, diplomatic things…”

Y’zaks quickly planned his daughter’s study plan for the whole day. He totally did not consider the fact that his study plan would need 32 hours a day to complete. Y’lisabet’s face turned pale and she burst into tears. She then started to dig a hole in the ground with her hands as she cried and said, “Don’t stop me, don’t stop me! Let me dig a hole to bury myself.”

Hao Ren pulled the little girl up and kicked Y’zaks in the shins (he could not reach a higher place). “Is there even a father like you? Oh, actually there are a lot of fathers like that… But, you’ve gone too far!”

When Y’lisabet saw that Hao Ren was helping her, she quickly wiped away her tears and hid behind him. “Uncle Ren’s so good…”

Hao Ren stared at her and corrected her, “It’s Uncle Hao!”

“Oh, and Uncle Hao!”

Then, in a serious manner, Y’zaks said, “I’m training my successor. It’s not easy to be a demon king. When I was—”

“You took 100 years to learn a magic skill. Uncle Gordon told me that. And Uncle Hammer said you were a fool, because you would plug the fuse into the boiler heat valve.” Y’lisabet stuck her little head out and said, “‘Why does the demon king have to learn this?’ That’s what you said.”

Y’zaks was at a lost for words.

Nangong Wuyue laughed and said, “Okay, okay, you can teach her slowly. Y’lisabet will only be crowned when she reaches 600 years old. She’ll have plenty of time to learn those in two to three hundred years.”

“Do you have experience in educating children?” Y’zaks was not convinced.

Nangong Wuyue pulled Lil Pea from Hao Ren’s arm and said, “I made a fish learn how to speak the human language in two months, you wanna try?”

Lil Pea slapped her tail vigorously and shouted at Y’zaks, “You wanna try? You wanna try?” Sometimes the little one would repeat the last few words someone said.

“Anyway, I don’t want to stay in Helcrown for classes.” Y’lisabet found lots of people supporting her, so she immediately had the confidence to ask, “Maybe, let me go with dad to stay in Uncle Ren’s house? Dad, you said you wanted me to learn more things, right? I think Uncle Ren’s world is more interesting than Helcrown.”

“It’s Uncle Hao…”

“Oh, and Uncle Hao!”

Y’zaks was a little hesitant, but to be frank, it was not easy for him to see his daughter. How could he really be willing to leave the little girl there in Helcrown? Although it did not take much time to get from Earth to the new planet of Aerym, the distance of more than 800 light years was enough for him to miss his daughter. He decided to let Y’lisabet accept the education of being a crown princess because he felt uneasy of suddenly giving up the throne. He was eager to let his child bear the national expectations. After all, he was a demon king with a strong sense of responsibility.

Vivian could read Y’zaks’ mind. She patted Y’lisabet on the head and said, “This girl is finally with you. Just let her spend some time on Earth and let her see the world. Regarding education, she can learn from you.”

“As the crown princess—”

Hao Ren squinted at him and said, “If you keep giving excuses, we’re really going to leave without her.”

Y’zaks immediately changed his mind and said, “…It’s necessary for her to gain some experience…”

Everyone remained silent.

They stayed another day on the new Aerym planet to arrange a lot of things. This was to ensure a smooth development in Helcrown’s settlement. At the same time, Y’zaks also completed his “funeral arrangements”—it sounded very inauspicious, but since he did not mind mentioning “you will be crowned queen” continuously, there was nothing to worry about.

Hao Ren led his gang of friends to stroll around the new city of the Aerym. The last time they left this place, there were only a bunch of shanty towns as well as a jumble of tools stacked across the plains and wilderness. Just a few months later, they had built towns that were beginning to take shape. At least, there were basic gathering points and workshop facilities now. I have to say that people who have experienced difficulties are capable of taking action. Lily could finally have a good time there. Hao Ren’s Dimensional Pocket was packed with at least half a ton of crap; more than half of it was collected by Lily from all kinds of corners…

Before leaving, Hao Ren left a set of special devices for the elves of Aerym.

It was a set of simple teleportation devices that did not need to be maintained, just like the one in Hao Ren’s basement.

“This teleportation device is for you. Helcrown also has one set. It can send you directly to a place called Kuiper Station. If there is an emergency, I can go there to meet you. In addition, if you apply in advance, you can also use it to teleport to my home. But, it’s better if don’t you use it so freely for this purpose as it’s still considered an official teleportation.”

“I understand,” said Hilda as she quickly ordered the device to be properly kept. “I will send someone to set up a special facility to accommodate this important device. It will be placed somewhere with the highest level of security in the Royal district.”

“…It’s really not that major of a thing. I just put it in the basement,” said Hao Ren.

Hilda nodded and said, “I’m also talking about the basement.”

It turned out that a queen and a landlord had little in common when it came to conversation.

After arranging everything, they went back to the Petrachelys and set foot on their journey back to Earth.

Lanina stayed in Helcrown for the time being. As one of Y’zaks’ few intelligent talents, the demoness could not leave at this point. However, she was sure to travel frequently between Earth and the new planet of Aerym. She had to serve as a liaison between the old demon king (Y’zaks) and Helcrown. After all, after Y’zaks’ abdication, there were still a lot of things to be done slowly.

Y’lisabet entered the spaceship happily. The little girl was looking forward to her upcoming life on Earth.

Chapter 463: The Traveling Ascetics

 

They traveled by spaceship back to the Kuiper Belt before they were teleported back to the basement at home. There was no reason for them to take a detour this time, because they had Y’lisabet with them. The little girl was too active to be running safely in the streets. The main culprits were the two little, cute demonic horns on her head, which may have been difficult to explain even if she was disguised as an anime lover. The Southern Suburbs was a calm and pristine place. Any little thing that happened would quickly become headline news in the community. If Y’lisabet were to stand on the corner of a street, those overzealous old ladies would definitely take turns condemning Hao Ren for raising a child in a bad way.

Out from the portal, Hao Ren was very satisfied to see the house clean and dusted. It seemed Becky, who stayed at home this entire time, had been very dedicated. For a mercenary to do house chores, it was pretty extraordinary. Y’lisabet jumped and ran around in the basement. “Is this where Uncle Ren lives? It’s a little dim in here…”

“It’s Uncle Hao… Anyway, never mind.” Hao Ren facepalmed and finally gave up correcting how the little girl should address him. “This place is the basement of my house, Vivian lives in here. My house isn’t as large as your dad’s castle. Earth’s living space has always been scarce. Let me warn you first, though; don’t ever touch anything in my house, especially things down here in the basement. Those equipment are very important. You got that?”

Y’lisabet had wanted to poke the white “coffins” with her small screwdriver for some time now. After that, she could only put it away in frustration. Seeing her restless eyes darting around the room curiously, Hao Ren knew this little girl would absolutely not be able control herself—she was daring enough to even jab the alien spacecraft, so she and Y’zaks were definitely cut from the same cloth.

But Hao Ren had faith in the empire’s techology. No matter how hard the mischievous child tried with her screwdriver, she would not be able to do any real damage…

Lily stretched her body and it made her look like she was having convulsive seizures as she let out an “Arf”. It was only after the stretching that she sighed comfortably. “I’m home, at long last.”

When they were out, the husky showed no signs of being home sick. She only lamented about it now.

The movement in the basement had caught the attention of people upstairs. Hao Ren heard footsteps on the staircase beside him. Shortly after, Becky’s head poked through the doorway. “Yay, you’re back, Landlord!”

Becky had really adapted and become an earthling through-and-through. The rustic appearance she used to have when she first came from the Plane of Dreams was no more. Wearing baggy cartoon themed pajamas, and a pair of flurry slippers, she was even holding a TV remote in her hand when she poked through the doorway. Not only did she fully adapt to the life there, she also treated the rented house as her own.

Y’lisabet was a curious bunny. When she saw the human, she lunged towards Becky excitedly. “Who are you?” she asked.

Hao Ren stepped forward and pulled Y’lisabet back as he introduced her to Becky, who seemed to be a little startled. “She’s Y’zaks daughter, Y’lisabet.”

Becky’s reaction was exactly the same as Hao Ren Ren when he saw Y’lisabet for the first time. She almost could not believe that this almost Barbie-doll-like girl was actually Y’zaks’ daughter. But seeing the two sharp horns on her head, Becky could not deny that it was a fact. Becky reached out to touch the horns on Y’lisabet’s head. “Are these real?”

The girl suddenly exclaimed proudly, “Of course they are. My horns are the most beautiful!”

As she spoke, the little girl pulled a small box of varnish out of nowhere. She then lathered it on her horns and rubbed it up with a handkerchief. It was no wonder why Hao Ren always found the girl’s horns to be shinier than the other demons’. He initially thought it was because she was young, only to find that she had been waxing her horns all this while… Was it in their genes?

They came out from the basement into the living room and found that the TV was on. It was dark outside. No wonder Becky was in her pajamas, it was late at night.

Y’lisabet’s eyes still darted around curiously. She cheered when she saw the TV.

This time, without needing a glare from Hao Ren, Y’zaks picked the girl up and forfeited her little screwdriver. “Don’t! Don’t touch anything! Otherwise, I’ll have to send you back to school in Helcrown!”

The little girl immediately shrivelled like a flattened balloon in the air. “Aye…”

Looking at the lively scene, something suddenly crossed Hao Ren’s mind. “I just realized—we don’t have enough rooms upstairs. Where is the little girl going to stay?”

Without much thought, Nangong Wuyue said, “She will stay with her father.”

Y’lisabet immediately covered her chest with both hands after hearing this (Y’zaks was still holding her up by her collar). In a serious manner, she said, “No—like Lanina said, girls must not sleep with daddy after one hundred.”

Hao Ren almost choked. “One hundred…”

Discussing age with this long-living race was pointless as the gap was obviously a little too huge.

Becky looked at Hao Ren, then Elizabeth, before hesitantly saying, “Actually, there’s a room now.”

Hao Ren immediately looked at her. “What do you mean?”

“The four ascetics… I mean the four masters, have now become one. The other three have gone to travel the world,” said Becky, sticking her tongue out. “So, now there’s a vacant room.”

Hao Ren was perplexed. “What? Travel the world?”

Just as Becky about to speak again, the sound of the back door opening was heard. Hao Ren turned and saw Big Beardy walking in. He was chewing a half-charred bun. Apparently, he had just finished his day of practice in the wild and he was coming back in for a nap.

Big Beardy saw Hao Ren and the others. He was slight startled before he smiled. “Oh, all of you are back! Is everything good?”

“Yeah, pretty good.” Hao Ren nodded automatically. Then, suddenly things came to mind. “Wait a second! What is all this travelling around the world about? Where are the others?”

Big Beardy smiled solemnly as though it did not concern him. “Walking the path of the goddess requires one not to be trapped in a single place. One must go out and experience the trials and tribulations of sweetness as well as sorrow in the world. It’s normal for the three of them to set out to travel the world.”

Cold sweat trickled down Hao Ren’s back instantly as he burst out, “Don’t you know who you are? Yet, you guys still roam around? Don’t you know you guys are otherworldlings in this world?”

Big Beardy smiled as he pointed to Vivian and the others. “Who among us is not an otherworldling here? Since they are free to move around, why aren’t we?”

His reply stifled Hao Ren’s words. There was truth in what Big Beardy said, but he still found it extremely not right. “But your case is different: you guys are from the Plane of Dreams, it—”

The bearded man smiled and interrupted him. “No matter how far we go, we’re still under the eyes of Raven, the goddess. If something happens, I wonder if you’d have trouble finding them. You even crossed the bridge of the world, didn’t you?”

Hao Ren was again stifled. Thinking for a long moment, he finally figured what was wrong: it was the four ascetics’ alien way of life! As alien as Vivian was, she had been living among the humans. As transcendent as Lily was as a husky, she had been doing pretty well among the literati. Nangong Wuyue had recently been hailed as a little pop-folk queen. Even Y’zaks looked like a nice guy when his face was covered up. They would not be easily spotted in the crowd, because their expertise was assimilation. But the four ascetics… the habit of living in the wild alone was enough to earn them a five-minute slot on the prime time news.

Hao Ren’s eyes turned, looking at the TV. He feared that the three other ascetics may suddenly popped up on the broadcast news. “Poachers have been spotted in Kekexili. The trio have been wantonly hunting the Tibetan antelopes. The suspects have good survival skills and they are now in a standoff with the anti-poaching team…”

With their living habits, a situation like that was not entirely impossible!

Big Beardy seemed to know what Hao Ren was thinking. He smiled calmly. “I know you’re worried about us being unaware of the local rules and customs, that we’ll make a mess in this world. Rest assured, since the day we learned it was not allowed to set up tent under the TV tower, we have been studying the various ways of life around the world. We don’t lack common knowledge of life on Earth. The three of them have even brought along a list of endangered species when they left…”

Hao Ren was speechless.

It seemed that the masters were indeed pretty self-aware.

Chapter 464: Blooming Season, a Good Time to Dawdle

 

To be honest, from the very beginning itself, Hao Ren really did not expect the four ascetics to sit still at home. He had not been able to control the other tenants, let alone the ascetics who were as stubborn as mules. They had their own insistence and self-standards that others found hard to fathom; they did not impose their views on others, but at the same time, they would also never be moved by others. The four ascetics had their heart set on passing the test of the goddess, how could they live the life of Riley?

But thinking was one thing, when it actually happened it caused him headache. Dumbfounded, Hao Ren looked at Big Beardy who gave him a tepid smile in return. His solemn face almost made him look like he was being called back to his maker.

Vivian was more open-minded. “Hey, it’s not a big deal. Before I came, I was running around too. Don’t forget I am a Blood Clan member, while the four masters are at the ver least still humans. They could easily explain themselves away as some kind of practitioner. Noting’s going to happen.”

Hao Ren sighed. “Well… actually, I’m mainly worried that they’ll go to Kekexili to hunt Tibetan antelopes… But, since they have already done their homework, I’ve got nothing more to say.”

Big Beardy smiled. “I’m glad that you finally understand. Rest assured, I will stay around. Ascetics have a secret way to communicate with each other remotely, I can keep tabs of their movements. If there’s a situation, I will report to you.”

Hao Ren waved his hand reluctantly. “Then let it be. After all, you’re not the only one in the house whom I have to worry about all the time.”

There was another reason Hao Ren let the four ascetics run loose—Raven 12345 must have acquiesced to it. When he was away, there was no way he could keep tabs of things that were happening around the house. What the ascetics did was beyond his control. Since Raven 12345 had not jumped down his throat by deducting his salary yet, he thought it best to just let them be while he madw room for little Y’lisabet.

At this time, Rollie heard the chatter in the living room. It strolled down the second floor, glanced and greeted Hao Ren with a meow before it saw the stranger in the house.

It stared at Y’lisabet for a while, then let out a sigh like a human as if though was lamenting its fateful life as a pathetic mascot of the house. But then, it still nodded its approval at the little demoness before scurrying up to Lil Pea.

Hao Ren looked at Rollie’s behavior confoundedly especially the humanly sigh it made, which was really creepy. “Has this thing morphed?”

“I find it strange too. It’s been getting more and more ‘human’ recently.” Becky was nested in the couch, watching TV. “Two days ago, I saw it squatting in front of the TV, pressing the button on the remote controller.”

Rollie gave Becky a lazy glance before it meowed and curled itself into a ball, napping next to the couch.

“…Is there any normal creature left here?” Hao Ren muttered.

Y’lisabet, the little demoness began to settle down in Hao Ren’s home, and quickly adapted to the life there.

Although she was a princess, Y’lisabet was not a pampered, spoiled lass. Hao Ren’s house was only equivalent to a guard house compared to Y’zaks’ palace. Nonetheless, the little demoness was exceptionally satisfied with her room, because there were so many things she found so fun to explore!

Light bulbs, a telephone, refrigerator, TV, microwave, rice cooker—everything that basically ran on its own would automatically arouse her interest. Y’lisabet felt like she had found a magical treasure chest; everything was so worth to be dismantled. Although her small screwdriver had been consficated by Y’zaks, the girl could always find some suitable tool around the house. When no one noticed, she would secretly study things that she found strange within her line of sight.

One fine day, while Hao Ren was watching TV in his room, he suddenly heard a loud boom in the living room. The power circuit had tripped. He ran downstairs and found Y’lisabet sitting on the living room floor. Her face was smoked black, and she was holding a screwdriver, which was stuck inside the power socket. The little girl giggled. “This is fun!”

Like father like daughter, the girl’s sense of curiosity was apparently inherited from her dad. As for her courage of poking screwdrivers into power sockets, it probably came from her mother, the former sword saintess who dared the demon king to fight her in front of Helcrown. Such a courage was not due to naivety. Even with only a tenth of her genes, her child would be as mischievous as a monkey.

Fortunately, as mischievous as Y’lisabet was, she was just acting out of curiosity and confusion. She mistook the electrical appliances as her usual alchemical devices back home. She was not downright delinquent. After getting a few electrical shocks, and more importantly, an earful from the adults, she began to behave a little.

In order to keep Y’lisabet occupied, Hao Ren retrived a pile of his old stuff out from the basement. There was the radio he used to tinker with, a broken old TV he thought would be too wasteful to toss away, a Walkman he could no longer find cassettes to play on, and even a laptop without the display. Even Hao Ren himself could not recall when he had accumulated this jumble of scraps. But they quickly became Y’lisabet’s favorite toys as she immersed herself in the inexplicable joy of disassembling them.

Lily whispered as she saw the pile of scraps. “You always complain about me about collecting things. Didn’t you do the same?”

Hao Ren was not very concerned; his collection was at least worth a few cents if sold as scrap. What would Lily have gotten for a box of stone?

Days went by without incident. After being debriefed at Raven 12345’s place, Hao Ren had his dream of a long down time.

Today was another sunny day.

The chilling cold of the winter had long receded. They now ushered in the blooming season of spring. Wearing a coat and standing in front of the window, soft breeze swept in through the window as Hao Ren gazed out at the old poplar, which had begun to sprout green buds. He sighed softly. “It’s spring.”

Lily squatted next to him with Lil Pea’s pot in front of her. The husky maiden was also holding a stick in her hand. There was a small piece of wood tied on a fishing line attached to the end of the stick. As she happily played “fishing” with Lil Pea, the maiden looked up at Hao Ren when she heard his sigh. “Landlord, are we going to have fun outside?”

While distracted, she heard the sound of water splashing as Lil Pea jumped out of the water and took away the wood chip on the fishing line.

The two of them seemed to be playing rather skillfully.

“All you can think of is going out.” Hao Ren glanced at Lily, then at Lil Pea. “Can you not play fishing all day? It’s going to mess up her feeding habit. Feeding by fishing rod isn’t a good habit.”

Becky’s voice suddenly came through the front door. “Landlord! I’m taking Y’lisabet for a stroll ouside.”

Hao Ren turned his head and looked up. The little demoness had on a bright dress and she was standing in the doorway, throwing him a grimace. Her red eyes were protected behind a pair of Define shades, while her head was covered with a soft cartoon cap, just covering her small demonic horns. The two of them had been going out with these camouflages for the past two days.

Hao Ren waved at them and said, “Go, go. Just don’t let her take off her hat.”

After the two happily disappeared out of the doorway, Hao Ren turned to look at Y’zaks. “Why didn’t you teach your girl some shapeshifting skills when you yourself could transform from a five-meter demon to a human? Teaching her how to conceal her horns isn’t that difficult, right?”

Y’zaks sighed and said, “It’s got something to do with her bloodline. Her weak adaptive ability has prevented her from learning the natural talents of the demons. The ability of demons to shapeshift into humanoid forms isn’t acquired magic, but a natural talent that requires a pure bloodline. I will ask Big Beardy if he has any simple metamorphosis skills from the Plane of Dreams, which Y’lisabet could learn.”

Saying that, Y’zaks’ could not help but reveal a guilty look. “To be honest, I sometimes feel sorry for the child. Having a half-demon, half-human bloodline, she was physically weak since birth, and she had no playmates. If not for that, she wouldn’t be fooling around with the alchemical devices all the time. It’s because no one would play with her.”

“Then, why didn’t you go out with her just now?” Hao Ren rolled his eyes.

Y’zaks scratched his head in embarrassment. “…If I go out with her, people might call the police. You know, there has been quite a crackdown on kidnapping recently…”

Hao Ren was speechless.

At this time, a figure staggered from across the street, attracting Hao Ren’s attention.

Chapter 465: Sanba Is in Trouble

 

As he stood in front of the window, enjoying some fresh air, Hao Ren saw a rather familiar figure staggering across the street. He squinted and was surprised to find that the figure was an acquaintance—Nangong Sanba.

Nangong Sanba however, did not look to be in a very good shape as he swayed in his steps. His face was as pale as a ghost. Hao Ren quickly ran towards the door, but someone got ahead of him.

Nangong Wuyue had been in her siren form, helping Vivian to mop up the floor in the living room. But, she scurried to the door as though she had sensed the presence of her brother.

However, Hao Ren got behind her and stopped her from crawling out the door, because she was still in her siren form. He then went out to meet Nangong Sanba himself. “Sanba? What happened to you? You look like you’re having a 60-degree fever.”

Becky and Y’lisabet, who had not gone very far heard the commotion and turned back. Both of them had never met Nangong Sanba before, and Becky looked at him curiously. “You know him?” she asked Hao Ren.

Nangong Sanba’s face was pale and he had an abnormally high body temperature. He was obviously in very bad shape, but he was still able to reply, “Stop kidding around. I’d be cooked at 60 °C. Help me inside, quickly… I have something to tell Wuyue…”

“Don’t talk for the monent. I’ve got medical equipment here.” Hao Ren hurried him into the house as he looked up and commanded the MDT, which was still lying on the tea table, watching TV. “Go and get the medical pod ready!”

At this time, everyone in the house was alarmed as none of them were expecting to see Nangong Sanba. He had been away for several months, only to show up in such a shape. Hao Ren thought that Nangong Sanba was injured, but when he examined him, he did not find any external wounds. Despite that, Nangong Sanba’s face was pale, his body temperature was very high, and the skin around his neck was covered in some abnormal black patterns as if his blood vessels were going to burst.

Nangong Wuyue, whose relationship with her brother had always been stormy, finally showed her sisterly love as she freaked out upon seeing her brother’s condition. She picked up some ice sludge with her tail and patted it on Nangong Sanba’s forehead frantically. “Brother, you’re scaring me… Please, hang in there.”

Vivian pulled Nangong Wuyue aside and said, “You’re knocking him out.”

The MDT rushed down to the basement to prepare the medical pod. Hao Ren carefully carried the half-baked demon hunter, who was now half-dead down the stairs to the basement. “What’s wrong with you?”

Nangong Sanba wanted to say something earlier, but had no chance. Now, he finally forced out a few words. “The vengeful spirit!”

There was a sudden, subtle change of expression on Nangong Wuyue’s face. She was just next to them. Hao Ren immediately realized that things were probably more complex than what met the eye. He picked up the pace and said, “Just stop talking for now. Let’s get down to the basement quickly and get you healed.”

Arriving in the basement, Nangong Sanba was astonished by what he saw. But before he had time to say anything, they shoved him into a medical pod. They only breathed a sigh of relief when the medical pod performed a scan and started to treat him.

Before Nangong Sanba went into the pod, Hao Ren could see some weird vascular patterns on his arms. He could not help but ask the MDT, which was now connected to the medical pod, “How is he?”

After verifying the feedback data from the medical pod, the MDT explained, “Short-term exposure to a high dose of radiation has caused the collapse of his tissue. There are also signs of heavy metal poisoning. His blood is full of toxins and tissues of dissolved organs, but the demon hunter is very tough; he will live. If he had gotten here a bit later, he’d be dead.”

Nangong Wuyue curled herself up into a ball and stayed in that posture for a long time.

The clock seemed to be ticking slower than usual as everyone anxiously waited. Nonetheless, the treatment had gone well. A beep sounded from the medical pod before its hatch slowly slid open. Nangong Sanba sat up and breathed out a sigh. He still looked weak, but he had apparently made it.

Right after, the MDT began to speak like an old Chinese doctor, “It’s best to get a day or two’s rest while you let your body recover slowly from exhaustion.”

Nangong Sanba climbed out of the medical pod with some struggle. The first thing he did was turn to look at the strange, high-tech equipment and asked, “For my sister’s sake… I guess you won’t ask me to pay for the treatment, right?”

Nangong Wuyue suddenly yanked her brother back into the pod with a fling of her tail. “Don’t be so thick-skinned!”

Hao Ren shrugged and said, “Looks like your brother has recovered pretty well.”

Nangong Sanba got up again, and still felt incredible. When he first arrived, he thought that he would surely die. He wanted to leave his last words, but he had no chance to speak. Now, he was surprised to find that not only was he not going to die, he was also completely healed by the strange equipment. He peered around the basement curiously and it looked like a place no normal human being would live in with all the strange equipment lying around. “Honestly speaking… I think the human race hasn’t attained this level of technology yet. Do have something more than meets the eye?”

Hao Ren had not given it much thought when he tried to save Nangong Sanba’s life. Also, because Nangong Sanba was an otherworldling himself, it seemed like he fell within the definitions of his “tenants”, which Raven 12345 had handed down to him. Hence, he led Nangong Sanba into the basement. But obviously, it was going to be troublesome to explain to him, so he could only beat around the bush. “This is an otherworldling shelter after all, how could I not have some ‘necessary assets’ lying around while I run this place?”

Lily blustered behind Hao Ren. “Who we are is not important, but what happened to you is!”

Nangong Sanba suddenly turned serious as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, before looking at his sister darkly. “Wuyue, I think I’ve found the vengeful spirit that took dad and mom away.”

Wuyue’s tail instantly stiffened up in a tortuous way. She was in a startled state for a few seconds before she reacted. “You mean…”

“I’m not so sure yet, but the smell was really familiar.” Nangong Sanba nodded vigorously. He then looked up at Hao Ren and explained, “Demon hunters are born hunters who are very sensitive to smells, even surpassing that of the werewolves. A mixed breed like me is no exception.”

Wuyue suddenly lunged forward, grabbing and shaking Nangong Sanba by the shoulders with both of her hands. “Where is it? Was the vengeful spirit the one who hurt you?”

“Calm down,” said Nangong Sanba, trying to break free from his sister’s claws. “Siberia. I was no match for that vengeful spirit, but I roughly know where its nest is.”

“Its nest?” Vivian immediately frowned. “Vengeful spirits have nests? I thought they never stay in one place for very long.”

“I don’t know the details, but all intel seems to indicate that the vengeful spirit has never left the physical world.” Nangong Sanba spread out his hand. “It may have even been entrenched there for hundreds of years. I believe that the attack on our family back then may be a result of its unconscious ‘wandering’.”

Hao Ren listened, but he was none the wiser. He held Nangong Sanba up. “Let’s go upstairs to the living room. We’ll talk over it there.”

In the living room, after having some water, Nangong Sanba appeared to be a lot better. He then recapped his encounters over the past months. “Didn’t I tell you that I got a job from a Russian parvenu to help him drive out some spirit? As it turned out, the situation wasn’t as simple as I thought it would be.

“At first, I thought that it was just another job where some large family’s old house was haunted by evil spirits, because of some rancor or vicious incidents. However, when I arrived there, it turned out it was more than that: the parvenu who commissioned me is actually a descendant of a very large, reclusive family with a very complicated background. The family and the evil spirit have hundreds of years of grudges, and over the generations, family members have died one after another in a series of bewildering incidents. It’s said that the evil spirit was called out by one of the family’s ancestors using a secret method described in an ancient manuscript. By doing so, the ancestor violated the taboo of life and death. You may have heard of legends like this, which were passed down from several generations ago. But, it’s hard to verify their authenticity. Anyway, when I followed the trail and finally found the so-called evil spirit, it was actually a vengeful spirit, which for some unknown reason, was stuck in the material world.

“The vengeful spirit had a scent, which was very similar to the one I encountered when I was young—a smell I can never forget. But I wasn’t a match for it since I was alone. At last, I had to use my speciality in the occult to teleport myself back to Wuyue.”

After that, Nangong Sanba smiled bashfully. “Actually, I was thinking of coming here to leave my last words before I die. I never thought that I’d still be alive.”