The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 486

Chapter 486: The Other

 

Three hundred years was a long time for a human being, who could only live just a fraction of that. The ups and downs, as well as the changes in 300 years were something unpredictable for a short-living species like the human race.

Three hundred years ago, two ordinary folks living in exile in Siberia were dragged into some supernatural events, and since then, their fates were changed completely. They both received a gift from the witch; one of them had become extremely wealthy, but his entire family also suffered torment for 300 years as they were haunted by a vengeful spirit because of the gift. What happened to the other person and his descendents for the past three centuries?

Perhaps, they would only find out when they recover this last surviving member of the Rakikh Family in St. Petersburg.

The ancient castle of Andrea was ushering in an unprecedented peaceful day. For the first time since the day the castle was built, there were no strange sounds and endless whispers. People who were living there could finally enjoy a good night’s sleep.

The next day, Hao Ren and the others prepared to leave for St. Petersburg. It would be a very quick journey, but Igor and his servants still came to bid them farewell in the great hall of the castle. Hao Ren saw that Anna was looking better than she did the day before. Standing behind Anna was a pale-looking boy. His eyes were dodgy and he looked younger than his actual age. He was Akim, the only male among the new generation of the Andrea Family.

“Looks like you slept well last night,” said Nangong Sanba who smiled and quipped as he looked at Igor’s face. “How does it feel to sleep soundly?”

Igor stroked his beer belly, laughing and feeling wonderful. “I’ve missed this feeling for decades. I remember my last night without a nightmare, the day before my sixth birthday.”

“We’ll go and find out Ogyust’ situation. We’ll get the other stone back no matter what,” said Vivian as she gazed at Igor. “We’ll be back very soon. Meanwhile, look after the castle, especially the crypt. Although the evil spirit’s gone, the area beyond the iron gate is still an alien dimension. It’s easy for people to get lost if they wander inside. Send more people to guard the entrance.”

Igor was still slightly nervous when looking at Vivian. The legend of the witch, which had been handed down from generation to generation put a lot of pressure on him. He grabbed the buttons on his chest and said, “Yes, My Witch, as per your orders.”

“Hey, relax.” Vivian sighed. “Don’t be so tense. I’m not going to take control of anything in this castle… The Andrea Family is free. Don’t be bothered by the legends of the witch anymore. I’m very sorry for my negligence during the laying of the seal back then. It caused you suffering for hundreds of years.”

“But it was also because of the gold you left behind that the Andrea Family could build its wealth to what it is today. Without the witch’s protection, it would have been difficult for anyone to survive in the ice and snow, including my ancestors,” Igor said with a smile. “Everything is equal exchange. I know very well that there are many people who are willing to exchange our wealth with their life. It’s a price to pay for owning such great wealth.”

Igor had apparently breathed a sigh of relief when Vivian said that the Andrea Family was free. No one liked the idea of another master emerging out of nowhere, even if it was the witch, whom the family’s ancestors had revered for generations.

Of course, he would still be happy to accept her orders if Vivian just wanted to help the Andrea Family.

“First thing’s first”—Hao Ren raised his hand—”Vivian has no interest in your family’s wealth and she doesn’t want anything from you. But we need to use the other dimension in your basement. It’s something that involves the supernatural realm.”

“Of course, I’m happy to guard the crypt for the witch.” Igor smiled. “My family and those in the castle are willing to do whatever she asks us to do.”

He made that pledge rather casually; as it turned out, it was a no brainer anyway. No one had ever entered the crypt for the past several hundred years. Now, even if the evil spirit had been expelled, it was still not a good place to be in. He was more than happy when there were a bunch of experts dealing with the crypt for him. As for the pledge he made, he was just being polite. He could see that these people were not here to dorminate the world and everything in it.

“Let Anna have a good rest. Meanwhile, we’ll try to come back within a day or two. I hope by then, she’ll be able to sort out her knowledge on Tannagost,” Vivian finally turned to Anna and said with a smile. The mad girl still appeared a little lost. Although the evil spirit’s whisper had left her mind, the mental illness had taken a toll on her and it would take a while before she could fully recover. However, she had no problems communicating with people and she nodded in response to Vivian. In the face of the witch, who had only appeared in legends, she seemed to be calmer than Igor was.

“It’s a long journey to St. Petersburg,” Igor said when he saw that Hao Ren and the others were turning around, about to leave. “I can arrange flights—”

Hao Ren waved without looking back. Then, they disappeared in a flash of light.

Igor and his servants witnessed in astonishment, the incredible thing that just happened before their eyes. After a long while, Anna murmured, “This is… the witch?”

Igor thought for a moment and passed out again.

Hao Ren and the others appeared in a suburb far away from the city. They went from the warm castle hall directly to the cold and windy wilderness. They could not help but shiver. Lily sniffled with in the cold wind and said, “This place is void of any human smell!”

“Ogyust is a weird man who’s reclusive and disgusted with crowds.” The Nangong Sabna looked up into the wilderness. “He lives in an old house away from human society. I suspect that he’s been living there his entire life and he’ll continue to stay there. When I last saw him, we briefly talked about his situation. Just like the Andrea Family, he was also having constant nightmares and mental disturbances. But obviously, it was unlike the influence of the vengeful spirit. He was simply plagued by dreams. I should’ve talked to him more, then I would’ve found out the truth earlier.”

“Fortunately, you didn’t.” Nangong Wuyue threw her brother a glance. “Back then you hadn’t met the landlord yet, you would’ve been dead fighting the vengeful spirit.”

Nangong Sanba shrugged. “You’re probably right.”

The MDT carried out a more accurate teleportation this time. Under the guidance of Nangong Sanba, they quickly found the old house where Ogyust lived. The descendant of the Rakikh Family lived alone. His large wooden house was several kilometers away from the nearest town, but it was still under the jurisdiction of St. Petersburg. But to be honest, Hao Ren thought that the place was in the middle of nowhere.

The wooden house was surrounded by overgrown thorns and cold-tolerant shrubbery. It gave people the impression that it had been abandoned for years. However, there was still a wide road cutting throught the shrubbery, leading up to the main entrance of the wooden house. This suggested that the house was actually inhabited.

Nangong Sanba walked up to the entrance and knocked on the rotten door, but there was no response.

“He’s gone out.” Lily snorted and sniffed the door. “He just left a while ago, probably went to town.”

Vivian crossed her arms as she looked at the old house. She then shrugged and said, “Well, we can wait…. We’ve waited for 300 years anyway.”

Lily looked up at her and said, “You’ve got some nerve saying that. For 300 years, you’ve been sleeping. Have you ever thought of them?”

Vivian remained silent.

Hao Ren asked Nangong Sanba about Ogyust. “What are his hobbies? What kind of person is he? Maybe we can dance to his tune?”

From Nangong Sanba’s description, Hao Ren could roughly figure out Ogyust’ personality: old-fashioned, eccentric, difficult to communicate with, and very neurotic about evil spirits. He was a difficult guy. His family’s traditions were obviously not the same as the Andrea Family’s. The witch may not have been an influence at all, so it was best to know his personality as well as preferences and be prepared for it.

Nangong Sanba thought for a moment and grinned. “This guy is unyielding.”

They looked at each other as it seemed that this guy was going to be hard to deal with. If the person was unscrupulous, he would have probably been easier to deal with. But Hao Ren found it hard to deal with an unyielding person, it was just too difficult.

“Well, I’ll handle him.” Nangong Sanba did not bother to discuss further. He smiled and took a large packet out from his box. “Here it is, I’ve brought him a gift. I know this man.”

Hao Ren looked at the packet of herbs in Nangong Sanba’s hand, feeling perplexed. “…What’s this for? Didn’t you say that the man’s unyielding? Why did you bring so many gifts?”

Nangong Sanba nodded and said, “Yeah, that guy is suffering from an anal fissure.”

Hao Ren felt that between him and Nangong Sanba, at least one of them was wackier than the other…

Chapter 487: Look at the Mess You’ve Left Behind

 

Looking at the herbal gift pack Nangong Sanba had taken out, Nangong Wuyue felt an itch in her spine. She smacked her brother on the shoulders and said, “Brother, would you believe it if I told you that I would’ve whipped you with my tail if this was a different occasion?”

Nangong Sanba did not get what she meant. “What’s wrong? Do you know how important this thing is to people with anal fissures?”

Hao Ren quietly put his hand on Nangong Sanba’s shoulders. Just as he was about to say something, he saw a classic car in his periphery, hustling towards them—Ogyust was back, coincidentally.

“Tuck your Chinese herbal gift pack away. The old man could get irritated and kill himself along with you.” Hao Ren grinned. “Let’s just play it by ear, and see if Ogyust knows about the legend of the witch. If the Rakikh Family’s lost it, we’ll use solving the curse of the evil spirit as an excuse.”

The old car jolted along the trail into the garden, which was surrounded by thorns and bushes. The man inside the car had obviously noticed the strangers in front of his house. He honked twice. Hao Ren could almost imagine a pair of cautious and neurotic eyes behind the tinted car windows, observing him. As the car came to a stop in the garden, the door was pushed open and an old man in a woolly coat alighted from the car. He had gray hair and looked to be about 50. He stared at the strangers at his doorpstep, his face cautious with a sense of despise. “Who are you people?”

“Mr. Ogyust,” said Nangong Sanba as he stepped forward and greeted the old man enthusiastically, “it’s me—these are my colleagues. They’re experts in occultism and witchcraft. We’ve come to you to discuss about incantations and mysterious knowledge.”

“I have nothing to say,” Ogyust scoffed. He had a deadpanned face and he never bothered to hide his despise as he raised his voice, “God, why can’t you let an old man live a normal life?”

Meanwhile, Vivian studied the air-dried wild herbs and animal skins hanging on the outer walls of the house with much interest. When she heard their conversation, she felt a bit dissatisfied. She turned her head around and said, “Aren’t you being harassed by an evil spirit? Maybe we can… Huh?”

When Vivian saw Ogyust, she was stunned as if something had struck her. At the same time, Ogyust’ response was even more dramatic: he was wide-eyed. He began to choke as though he was being strangled, and he started to shiver!

The old man staggered backwards. It looked like he was ready to turn around and run. Vivian finally recalled something in her mind, “Pavel? You’re still alive?”

“Pavel…” Ogyust tripped and fell on his back. He looked at the sky in a daze. “Pavel… No one’s ever called me by this name for three centuries… Mistress, you finally came back to get your possession?”

“How could this be…” Vivian was stunned. “You’re the one who’s been in contact with the Andrea Family all this while?”

Hao Ren had guessed the truth from the inexplicable conversation. He looked at the shivering old man in disbelief. Meanwhile, Lily was quick to lunge forward and hold the old man up. Together with Nangong Sanba, they helped the old man, who was about to pass out to door. “Don’t say anything yet. Let’s get side where it’s warmer.”

The wooden house was clean and tidy, except there was an aged feeling of not keeping up with the times. Nevertheless, there were a few modern electrical appliances and daily necessities, which contrasted with the ancient wooden tables and chairs. It exuded a wonderful sense of space-time confusion.

A portrait depicting the upper half of Alexander I was hung below the portrait of Lenin. A copper, Soviet rocket mold was placed next to a silver candlestick from the Tsarist Period. There was an old-fashioned mud-brick fireplace that was crackling with fire. It was a fireplace commonly present during the Red Army Era. A metal lunchbox from the Red Army Era was placed above the fireplace, warming up the soup he left there in the morning. This was an old house, which contained many things older than the house itself.

This was also the dwelling place for the reclusive man, who had lived there for three centuries.

Three hundred years ago, the witch left two stones to her two human minions, and inadvertently changed the fate of the two exiles, who had embarked on incredible and completely different lives. The careless witch simply did not foresee the kind of consequences her actions would bring upon the two of them.

One servant had become incredibly wealthy while another servant had become immortal.

And the price they paid for these gifts were the same: a nightmare that haunted them for life.

“Every time I reach 60 years old, I’ll ‘die’ of acute hemorrhage. Then, I incredibly wake up after 3 to 10 days of sleep and return to the moment when I first came into contact with the stone—me at 22 years old with a strong body.” Ogyust Futoryak Rakikh a.k.a Pavel was wrapped in a thick blanket as he sat on a rattan chair. He was in a crouched position as if he had crumbled in the cold winter of his life. “I don’t know what’s going on in my body, but I know it must be a curse that’s keeping me alive forever. But I’m entangled with this crazy voice in my head.”

Ogyust lowered his head and clutched his own hair. “I tried to put an end to all of this several times, and once, I even pointed a gun to my head. Yet in the end, I still couldn’t make up my mind. Die and resurrect—the same process has been repeating over and over again until today.”

Vivian looked at her former servant. She finally remembered. From his 50-year-old complexion, she could still vaguely recall his young face. “So, you’re the one who’s been in contact with Andrea’s descendants all this time? That’s why they could only receive letters from the Rakikh Family. Have you ever married? Do you have any children?”

“During the first two cycles of resurrection, I got married twice.” Ogyust shook his head. “But soon I discovered that it would only cause trouble. I had to find ways to conceal my immortality. Even my family couldn’t understand this phenomenon—my second wife accidentally found out about my resurrection, and she reported me to the church. I was deemed a warlock and was almost burned alive. Since then, I’ve stayed away from humans, and continued moving around to conceal my secrets. I also tried to disguise myself as my son, which worked well in a time when household registration systems weren’t that perfect… It was difficult during the first hundred years, but then I became used to such a life. The census and personal identity system were rather troublesome things. During the entire Stalin Era, I lived in the mountains and almost became a savage. During that time, I lost contact with the Andrea Family. But thankfully, everything returned to normal after that. Such was life, there were ups and downs. I once thought the world was a dull place, but after living long enough, I began to be amazed by the ridiculous changes taking place in the world.”

“So, you played your own descendants or changed your identity again and again. While you kept in touch with Andrea’s descendants, you kept a safe distance.” Vivian sighed. “You’re not comfortable with them?Are you worried that once they find out your secret of immortality, they’ll put you into danger?”

“I did have that concern indeed,” Ogyust said in a deep voice. “After learning that Andrea had died from old age, and his descendants were unfathomable strangers to me, I chose to guard my secret cautiously. But this isn’t the main reason why I keep a distance from the Andrea Family. The main reason is the voice.”

Ogyust pointed at his own head. “It’s here. The voice comes every night, urging me to go to Siberia to reunite the two cursed stones. The dark forces were divided by the witch, so they’re eager to come together. I’m not sure if it’s attached to the stone or me. I can’t even imagine what would happen if I go to the Andrea Family’s and the two dark forces merge into one… It may recover fully, and break the mistress’ seal. No mortal strength can defeat the monster.”

Hao Ren glanced at Vivian with surprise. “Divided into two? You cut the vengeful spirit in half?”

“Don’t joke around, the vengeful spirit is not tofu.” Vivian gave Hao Ren a sideways glance. “It’s possible that part of the vengeful spirit’s obsessiveness is in another stone. Nevertheless, Pavel’s decision to distance himself from the Andrea Family is right. If that obsession had returned to Siberia, it could have destroyed the seal. Pavel, give me the stone.”

Ogyust got to his feet obediently just like he used to, but he mumbled, “Just call me Ogyust… I’ve been using this name for years. I feel odd being called Pavel now.”

After Ogyust walked into his room, Lily looked at Vivian and could not help but sigh. “Look at the mess you left behind.”

Vivian could only remain silent.

Chapter 488: Two Curses

 

Mysterious knowledge hidden behind common sense or something contrary to it was beyond an average human being’s understanding. Even Ogyust, who had been living for three centuries and using a lot of energy to study witchcraft and taboo knowledge would still get things wrong sometimes. He did not know what a vengeful spirit really was. He judged things solely based on the sound he would hear in the illusions he experienced of the “dark monster”, that it had been divided into half by the witch. One of them was suppressed in the frozen ground of Siberia, the other one was in him. Based on this understanding, he made the decision to distance himself from the Andrea Family, and limit his frequency of contact with them. This was according to his knowledge of witchcraft, which only God knew where he got it from. This was how the bizarre and obscure letters came about.

Although many of the measures he took were ridiculous and useless in the eyes of the real experts, at least ‘staying away from Siberia was a sensible decision. Vivian was more convinved of it especially when he took the thing out of the room.

Ogyust brought a black wooden box with a complex structure to Vivian, handing it to her with both hands. “The stone’s in here.”

“What’s with the box?” Vivian looked at the wooden box curiously. “It looks rather familiar.”

Ogyust was surprised. “Have you forgotten? This is what you gave me. You specifically told me and my descendants to keep this box. You said that you might come to take it back one day. Didn’t you come for this box?”

“Is that so?” Vivian knitted her brows together. “Oh, I think I may have missed something.”

She opened the wooden box as she spoke, and saw the gizmo inside. “This is the second piece where part of the vengeful spirit’s power still remains. I may have overlooked this as I was too exhausted back then.”

Hao Ren saw a palm-sized elliptical object lying quietly inside the box. It was different from the first device the Andrea Family had kept. On its surface was a concentric circle pattern, and in the middle was a hole. Other than that, there was no visible unevenness.

From the outside, it was difficult to see how it was related to the first device.

“This thing is strange. What actually is the vengeful spirit?” Hao Ren muttered, taking out the triangular gizmo from his Dimensional Pocket as he tried to put the two “stones” together. “No response?”

He held the two bizarre “relicts of the vengeful spirit” up, and tried to join them together lightly, but neither of them emitted sound, nor light. Lily looked at the stones and showed interest. She came up and took them from Hao Ren. Hao Ren was hesitant, but he let her; he knew that the husky was interested in collecting stones. He was just worried that she might bite the stones to try them out.

Lily fiddled with the stones for a long time, but nothing happened. There were no signs of activation or start-up: no one knew how to use the gizmos.

The husky then shoved the stones back to Hao Ren, feeling frustrated. But judging from the reluctant look on her face, she was apparently eager to add the two stones to her collection.

“It seems like… something’s missing.” The MDT hovered out and circled the two “stones”. “I can sense that they’re resonating, but this resonance signal is being sent to another device. There’s no other device here, so they aren’t receiving any feedback, hence no movement.”

“Another device?” Hao Ren’s eyebrows were pulled together. Suddenly, he remembered the crack in the vengeful spirit’s dimension. “Is it related to that door? Are these stones the key to the door?”

While Hao Ren and the half-baked experts were discussing about the vengeful spirit, Ogyust was scared as hell, because he saw them trying to put two “cursed stones” together. His was wide-eyed. He hemmed and said, “You can’t put them together.”

“It’s okay. The evil spirit’s been destroyed.” Hao Ren waved his hand, but he felt an unpleasant sense of coldness coming through the hand he was using to hold the second “key”. The breath of the vengeful spirit was still hovering over the stone. “Sanba, please help purify this thing.”

Nangong Sanba gave Hao Ren a side-look. “The skill that your fish has is more powerful than my exorcism. You can let her sing a little.”

“Oh, yeah.” Hao Ren patted his chest softly. “Lil Pea, come out and show us what you got.”

The little mermaid happily poked her head out from Hao Ren’s collar. She had been watching the goings-on outside. Although she was clueless, she knew her dad needed her. She looked at the second “key stone” and cleared her throat. Before she started singing, Hao Ren already felt the chilly feeling on his hand vanish.

“Whoa, that’s amazing!” exclaimed Nangong Sanba as he looked at the demon hunting fish in awe. “How did she do that?”

Hao Ren had been bothered with the same question for days, but he could only speculate. “I suspect it has something to do with her demon hunting powers.”

Nangong Sanba was astounded. “What the hell is a demon hunting fish?”

“She’s not only a demon hunting fish, she received direct empowerment from the first generation of demon hunters. She’s almost in the same realm of the demon hunters’ ancestors.” When Nangong Wuyue thought of the complicated process from which Lil Pea got her powers, she facepalmed. “Please don’t ask, Brother. It’s impossible to explain in just a few words. Let me tell you when we get home.”

Nangong Sanba was clueless and flabbergasted, because Hao Ren never explained to him that Lil Pea had actually been imbued with demon hunter powers by the Relic of Origins. Ogyust was even more astonished: although he had seen many things in life, a mermaid was not one of them, especially a mermaid that was only a foot long…

Nevertheless, he had been alive for three centuries. He had witnessed fights between werewolves and vampires, so he was fairly calm. Vivian looked at the old man, and found signs of the vengeful spirit’s remnant on him despite having the “stone” cleansed. She patted Lil Pea on the head and said, “Do it one more time. To him this time.”

The little one was happy as she felt her power for the very first time since birth. She opened her mouth as everyone observed her. A wonderful power accompanied her voice as it struck the cold and distorted vibe that lingered on Ogyust. The remnant then dissipated like a fading electromagnetic wave.

“We gotta check what other new skills Lil Pea has.” Nangong Wuyue frowned as she looked at the cheeky Lil Pea, whose voice was sharp and clear. The creepy vibe left behind by the vengeful spirit in the surrounding air was retreating rapidly. Even Nangong Wuyue felt that her spiritual power was subjected to a harmless but tangible perturbation. “…Maybe it’s a good idea to teach the little one some new songs in the future. She can’t always sing the same Little Apple in all rituals.”

Meanwhile, Ogyust finally came to his senses as he realized that the voice, which had bothered him for 300 years was removed rather hilariously. He was in great shock as he had just experienced great changes and rejuvenation. He got to his feet and he put his palms together, thanking everyone. Vivian waved to stop him from overreactiing. “To be honest, I’m a bit curious. Since the ‘stone’ brought you so much trouble, why didn’t you just throw it away? It was not like you were followed by the evil spirit like the Andrea Family.”

“To be honest, I really thought about it during the first few years.” Ogyust looked at the two “stones” in Hao Ren’s hand with a complex expression on his face. “And I did throw it away several times, but after seven days, it would always come back like a curse. So, I just gave up.”

“Seven days?” Hao Ren exchanged looks with Vivian. “Wasn’t the Andrea Family unable to leave the castle for more than seven days too? Is it for the same reason?”

Contrary to the Andrea Family’s situation, where they were directly trapped and confined by the vengeful spirit, Ogyust suffered relatively less. He was only disturbed by the nightmare, and the “stone” did not cause harm to his life. The two curses appeared to share many similarities: the victim could not leave the cursed object too far, or for too long, and the cursed objects had infused the victims’ memories with inexplicable information.

The vengeful spirit was a senseless creature. What was the meaning of the “curse”, which had such an obvious purpose and a regular pattern?

“We’ve got the stones.” Vivian temporarily set the issue aside as she turned to look at Ogyust. “Pavel, are you coming with us to Andrea Castle—would you?”

Chapter 489: Revisiting the Crypt

 

Ogyust was hesitant towards Vivian’s suggetion. He was accustomed to living alone, away from the crowd, keeping his secrets, and continuously changing his identity. He used to be a businessman, farmer, hunter, prisoner, soldier, and even a smuggler. He would never use each identity longer than 20 or 30 years. If he were to go to Andrea Castle, everything would change. He was not ready to reintegrate into society, not yet.

“My Mistress, I’m sorry.” Ogyust got up and bowed slightly before Vivian. “I-I’m not ready yet. The Andrea Family may not accept an immortal person like me. Most of humanity, I’m afraid, won’t be able to accept this. They may accept a witch or wizard from the Middle Ages, but it’s difficult to accept an ordinary person who lives for eternity, I…”

“Oh, I never thought about that.” Vivian nodded. “So, are you going to continue living like this?”

“I’m used to it.” Ogyust forced a smile. “It’s not that difficult to live within the circle of life and death. Wizards who possess forbidden powers are able to live well too. I’ll keep my contact with the Andrea Family, and maybe move to new environment. Anyway, that voice is gone, so my days won’t get any worse.”

Deep in thought, Vivian looked at this man who possessed an immortal body. Then, she suddenly summoned a small bat and said, “Pavel, stretch your hand out, I need to take some steps for prevention.”

Though puzzled, Ogyust did not hesitate. He extended his left hand out. Vivian’s bat quickly flew towards him and bit his arm, creating a tiny wound. Ogyust frowned as he found faint black lines spreading, then fading on his arm.

“It’s not necessarily a good thing for a short-living species to live eternally unsupervised. Eternal life requires special talents and willpower. I will not allow my servants to do anything that will bring shame to my name. This blood will protect you. If you meet one of my descendants, or other kinsmen who are related to me, it will help you prove your identity, and give you the right to talk to them as equals. However, it will also monitor you. Pavel, don’t do anything that will disappoint me. If one day you find that you can’t stand immortality anymore, it’s best to end it. I don’t want to learn from the blood that you’ve fallen and become a monster.”

Ogyust’ expression changed slightly, and he nodded calmly. “Your foresight is necessary. I won’t disappoint the blood you’ve given me.”

“Don’t worry, Pavel,” said Vivian, laughing. “I’m not a voyeur. I’m not interested in watching your every move: it only warns you when you’re becoming mentally unsound. It does more good than harm. And… it’ll cure your ‘haemorrhoids’. You can now feel relaxed when you reach 60.”

Ogyust was speechless.

They said good bye and left. As they came out from the house, Hao Ren nudged Vivian and subtly said, “You were like a boss just now. I’ve never seen you like that before.”

“Oh, is that so?” Vivian did not know what he meant. She kept looking down at the wooden box, the one that earlier held the “stone” inside. “To be honest, I’m very curious about this thing…”

“What about it?” Hao Ren had the two stones and tossed them in his hand. “Isn’t the box empty?”

“Pavel said that I deliberately handed this box to him, and I specifically instructed him to keep it safe as I would come for it one day,” said Vivian, examining the wooden box in her hand. “This shows that this thing was very important to me. Yet, I’ve got no impression of it now.”

Lily looked at the wooden box and thought for a while. “Perhaps it was because of your poverty?”

Hao Ren gave her a sideways look. “What does being poor have to do with the box?”

“Look at how exquisite this box is. It may have been worth some money back then and it was probably the most valuable thing Battie had in hand, so it was only natural that she instructed her servants to take care of it. At least, it seems more important than a stone.”

“If it was such an important thing, why didn’t I just keep it myself? Why give it to someone instead?”

“Because you were going to sleep,” Lily said, looking at Vivian. “Maybe you were afraid of crushing it while you were sleeping, or you were afraid that when you woke up, you would forget what the box was all about. Then you would end up selling, or breaking it. So, you handed it to your own servant and told him that it was important. When you find Rakikh’s descendants in the future, even if you do forget about the box, at least someone will remind you about it, and you won’t sell it for some pennies.”

Nangong Wuyue looked at Lily in awe. “…Whoa, I never thought you could be so logical in your thinking.”

Lily stood with arms akimbo as she wagged her tail behind her. “How many times have I said that I was smart?”

Vivian and Lily had never seen eye to eye, but this time she praised Lily. “Doggie may be right. This thing must hold a special meaning… that I gave it to the servant for safekeeping. I must have foreseen that I would totally forget about the significance of this box. I’m going to study it when I get back at home.”

“Before that, we have to first find out if these two stones are keys to open the door of the vengeful spirit.” Hao Ren put the two ancient devices into his pocket. “MDT, begin teleportation—I hope Igor has lunch ready.”

The Andrea Castle was celebrating its first peaceful day in 300 years. The servants were running up and down happily, cleaning every corner of the castle. Each window was rubbed sparkling clean. The portraits of the Andrea Family’s ancestors had been dusted and they looked brand new. Even the zombie-faced butler and the gloomy old servant in the garden were carrying out their tasks with smiles on their faces.

Igor stood in the hall and watched as the servants prepared a hearty lunch. Standing next to him were his own children—Anna and Akim. Their condition was not very good, but even at its worst Akim insisted on strolling around the castle: the poor young man had been locked in the house for years and he no longer wanted to live in the cage.

“Dad, will those masters come back?” Anna looked at her father.

Igor held his belly and smiled. “Yes, they have some kind of magic that enables them to go anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye. Anna, the next time you meet the witch, remember to greet her. Our entire family is built on…”

Before Igor’s voice trailed off, the space next to him suddenly warped. Then, a white light appeared out of nowhere and Vivian’s voice was heard within the white light. “Didn’t I tell you not to be nervous about the witch? I’m not going to eat people.”

Igor was shocked. He quickly greeted Vivian, who was waving her hand. However, Vivian said, “Please spare me the meticulous etiquette. We’ve got the second stone. Now, let’s study the vengeful spirit’s door.”

Igor cautiously inquired, “How is the Rakikh Family?”

“Ogyust? He’s fine.” Vivian nodded. “But, he’s not coming to meet you. The curse of the evil spirit is over and he plans to start a new life. From now on, your two families don’t have to worry about this anymore.”

“It feels like a dream.” Igor sighed internally.

Lily eyeballed the hearty food on the big, long table as she could not stop drooling. Hao Ren had to hold her back from behind. “I want to eat… I want to eat! I want to eat!” she yelled.

As soon as Hao Ren released his grip, Lily lunged towards the table as if she had not eaten for months. The two naive individuals had probably never seen such a big feast in their entire lives. The generosity of the parvenu was unrivalled.

After the lunch, Hao Ren wasted no time as he led everyone back underground to study the crack.

This time, Igor and his children as well as several other old servants followed him to the entrance of the crypt. There was no more hoarfrost on the iron gate separating the human world and the alien realm. It was just like any other door after the chilly vibe dissipated. In awe, Igor looked into the darkness beyond the iron gate. “There’s another world beneath us?”

“It’s another dimension, a crack in the real world,” said Vivian, speaking into the deep and dark tunnel. “Actually, it’s not that you can’t go inside, after all, the evil spirit is gone. But if you do, it’s better to put up sufficient maps and rest stations along the way. The vastness of the crypt is beyond your imagination, and it is as cold as the land of snow outside. If you get lost in here, don’t think of coming back out alive.”

Igor shrugged. “You must be kidding. Who would want to go into such a place?”

As he said this, next to him, Anna looked into the darkness in deep thought.

Anna remembered those things the vengeful spirit had whispered into her mind. Some of that information may just be useful.

Chapter 490: A Fissure

 

The vengeful spirit’s departure did not restore the other underground dimension to its original form. As the MDT had surmised, the spatial structure there had been distorted for far too long. Now it was anchored between the gaps of reality in a stable state. Even without external reinforcement it could hold itself in that space for millenniums.

The place was still an endless field of snow, and it was as dark as ever. The spirit’s departure had caused the raging winds and snowstorm to finally die off. Hao Ren tried to recall the correct direction in his head as he walked and mumbled to Vivian, “What a large piece of land here. Seems rather wasteful to just leave it like that…”

Vivian did not even manage to respond before Nangong Wuyue quipped, “Mr. Landlord, don’t you think you’re too into your work? A land in an alternate dimension? Who do you plan to rent this to?”

Hao Ren already had something to retort with, “Well, just in case the gods decide to throw me an army or two of giant frost dragons. Given how that goddess operates, it’s not outside the realm of possiblity. I’m just preparing for the eventual need to accommodate anything that may appear from ‘Animal Planet’.”

Becky and Lily were at the back of the party. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything about giant frost dragons on ‘Animal Planet’…” Becky tilted her head. “Mr. Landlord’s mind works like a sandbox game, you never know what ideas he might come up with.”

“Your snow town or snow sanctuary won’t be of much use, but we should leave something here. Something like a power generator, or some lighting.” A few lightning orbs floated above the ancient vampire’s head as she looked around to plan for the future. “Maybe we should let Igor’s men set up some sort of station and monitoring facilities, or we can just do that ourselves. This place needs to be under surveillance, that’s for sure, especially with the fissure there.”

“I’ll get the Petrachelys to manufacture a set of equipment. Those gadgets are much more reliable than man-made one,” Hao Ren said as he looked at the faint lilac crack in the sky. “Especially when it comes to that fissure over there…”

The spirit’s departure did not affect the fissure’s status. It looked like it was just a gap akin to a door, and had nothing to do with the vengeful spirit’s energy source. The fissure was floating quietly on top of the stone platform in a slow and gentle frequency. It shone, floated, and emitted a weird humming sound.

“Let’s see if these two rocks are keys to anything,” Hao Ren muttered as he pulled out the two cursed stones and put them before the veil of light. “Hmm… what should I do next? Open sesame?”

The light veil stood silent as gentle waves rippled across its surface. Hao Ren felt like Lily as he did that.

“Looks like we need to active those triangular lines on the pyramid-shaped device in sequence.” Becky guessed the usage of the device like a grizzled veteran. “Something like opening a vault?”

“But that’ll take ages.” Hao Ren laughed drily. “I’m rather curious. If these are really keys, why do they have spatial storage capabilities? These two functions are almost the exact opposite. Have we guessed wrong?”

“Humans have been tripping over themselves to create gadgets beyond their wildest imaginations. A watchmaker from 1885 would never understand why a watch today would show everything else but the time. Don’t limit yourself to what you can see when you’re trying to figure out something beyond your comprehension,” Vivian said, almost philosophically. “Perhaps, the vengeful spirits designed their keys to be a storage vault as well?”

Hao Ren found that there was sense in Vivian’s words, but that did not change the fact that he had no idea how the two keys worked.

“Let me see what they might need… A touch command, voice command… some energy source… Maybe it’s a thumb-print, or iris-scan, but I don’t think the vengeful spirits have anything of the likes.” Hao Ren shrugged. “MDT, can you scan them?”

“They do have something to do with the fissure, at least in terms of data transmission, but it’s just basic transmission to ensure both sides are functioning as normal,” the MDT said as it shot out a ray of blue light and scanned the two small devices. “I think I should increase the power of my scans to see how this works. However, there’s a danger to that. Not everything’s as tough as Imperial-made items, especially when it comes to an alien key. There’s a chance that these two keys are already on their last legs, and my scan could end them.”

“Gotta try regardless.” Hao Ren pursed his lips. “Just try not to wipe out anything important inside. If neccessary, I’ll see Raven 12345 for more high tech gadgets.”

Under The MDT’s high-frequency scan, Hao Ren went to work in testing out the devices’ function.

Rubbing the lines along the triangular device did work. It seemed like the lines were the control “key”. The concentric rings on the other spherical device also had a similar function, but they needed to have a finger on one of the rings for it to work. And based on the MDT’s analysis, both actions would need to be performed simultaneously. An almost intricate pairing, it was like trying to get a rhyme out of a complicated musical instrument. Hao Ren had never seen an item with such an odd control method. He guessed that whoever created this had to be some sort of philosophical race—meaning, they were probably rather full of themselves.

“A very delicate control scheme with layers of encryption. You can’t decode this using normal data reading methods,” the MDT’s voice was filled with awe. “Not particularly advanced, but very clever.”

As Hao Ren was getting rather excited about the prospects of unlocking the keys’ mystery, a young female voice sounded from behind, “You’ll break the thing with your tests.”

Hao Ren had felt someone approaching earlier and he turned back to look. “Anna? What are you doing here?”

It was Igor’s daughter, Anna. The young girl who had just been released from the thralls of sickness was already there. She was wearing a thick fur coat, and in the dark, cold snow plains, her already pale complexion made her appear even more gaunt.

Even if the blizzard had stopped, for someone to walk down from the underground crypt to the fissure was no easy feat.

“How did you get here?” Vivian was even more surprised. “You knew the way?”

“I…. remember something?” Anna shrunk back as she eyed the fissure in fear. “The spirit left something in my mind… memories… I knew you were all here.”

Hao Ren and the rest looked at each other. They knew that the spirit had left a rather large data imprint in Anna’s mind, but they never thought it included matters regarding the fissure!

“You remembered?” Nangong Sanba asked, his face filled with emotion.

Anna nodded and held her hands out before Hao Ren. “Let me see the two keys… I may know how to activate them.”

Hao Ren passed the two “stones” to Anna, and the young girl started to touch the mysterious lines along their surface. The latter suddenly let out an almost inaudible hum. Seeing this, Hao Ren was perplexed. “I don’t understand…. Why did the spirit leave something like this inside a normal person’s head? Was it intentional?”

“I don’t think it intentionally fed her knowledge. It was something passive and random, some sort of mental broadcast,” Vivian crossed her arms as she tried to explain. “Now we know that the spirit’s an energy field and also a field of consciousness. When you’re in the vicinity of a vengeful spirit, it’s pretty much akin to being inside a living being’s brain. You’ll somehow be compelled to listen to the being’s thoughts. Weaker humans may even be totally reprogrammed. The Andrea Family’s been touching the key for generations, and they were treated as an enemy by the spirit. Plus, having lived in this castle for centuries, they were the most affected by the spirit. That was the source of their insanity. The spirit has no logical functions; it won’t purposely tell you anything. The Andreas were just being ‘soaked’ within the creature’s mind, to the point that they started to hear its thoughts. The knowledge and memories probably came from there.”

“So, it’s literally information being copy-pasted from the spirit’s brain into theirs,” Nangong Sanba added. “And this is really by chance. Every member of the Andrea Family has listened to something different and their insanity has ranged from mild to severe. But because they were bombarded with the memories of the spirit without any warning, most of the victims misunderstood what they saw…”

As he said this, he pointed his mouth at Anna, and lowered his voice. “She’s probably seen her ancestors taking out a large amount of gold with the keys, and recalled the legend of the witch. That caused her to unilaterally think that her family’s wealth was stolen, and that it was the cause of the curse. It then worsened her initial sickness.”

As Hao Ren and the group were busy discussing the spirit’s ability to affect the human psyche, Anna’s manipulation of the devices finally began to bear fruit.

Chapter 491: Another World

 

Once Anna managed to operate the keys with the preset rules, both keys started to exude a rhythmic resonance. Faint purple light shimmered around the devices, reflecting off the purple light veil within the fissure. As a resonance akin to a wind-chime exuded from the device, the fissure slowly brightened and from it came a bizarre sensation. Hao Ren realized that it was no longer translucent, instead a series of sceneries started to become visible; they could see something like a mountain range, or a row of huge buildings. As the veil shooked, the sceneries blurred…

But the fissure had been activated without question.

“So… it worked just like that?” Hao Ren was in awe of the changes within the fissure. While he was still gawking at the scene beyond the fissure, he took the keys from Anna. It was a 100 % certainty that the stones were indeed keys, and there was no need to call them stones anymore. Anna herself was surprised. She never thought that something she had learned from the vengeful spirit would be useful. “Ohhhhh… it actually worked?”

“Oh you, have more confidence. You opened it alright.” Becky patted Anna on the shoulder, almost sending the frail girl into the platform. “So, is the place beyond the fissure my home?”

Lily carefully approached the fissure, and conjured her Frostfire Claws to jab the light veil. She also poked her head to the side to see if her claws went through. When it did, she wagged her tail happily. “It went through!”

It was only then that Anna noticed Lily’s ears and tail. She gasped in surprised. “Woooow!! She has a tail!”

“It’s been out for a good part of the day already, didn’t you know?” Lily’s hands were on her waist as she put on a smug face. “Well, it’s a beauty ain’t it? Much prettier than the country bumpkins in your yard…”

Hao Ren took a good moment to realize that the “country bumpkins in the yard” referred to the Andrea Family’s huskies. “You sure have nothing else better to do than to compare tails with other huskies, eh?”

Vivian patted Hao Ren on the shoulder. “Well, just like someone who’s made it big in the city brags about their new found wealth when they return to their village, I guess this husky here needed to find something to be smug about in front of her fellow canines too.”

Luckily, Anna had grown up in a perpetually haunted castle and she was less judgemental compared to her peers. She was only interested in looking at Lily’s tails and ears at the moment. She neither shock nor visibly fearful. After the MDT scanned the fissure for a good while, it confirmed that the area on the other side was safe. “It’s passable, and it’s a very safe area. All of you, Lil Pea included can survive easily. Becky however, will need a life collar. The air there has poisonous particles and it’s harmful to humans.”

Hao Ren now realized that the fissure was a very unique portal. It allowed two-way traffic through it, but it also prevented the change of air between the two portal gates. This unique ability was likely designed to allow exploration into worlds with unknown environments. He put his hand through the light veil, and felt thatthe area on the other side was much warmer. “Who’s coming with me?”

Unsurprisingly, everyone stepped forward. Even Nangong Sanba volunteered to join. Hao Ren looked at him and cautioned the demon hunter, “Once we go forward, we’ll be getting into our ‘special mission’, you sure you want to join us?”

Nangong Sanba looked at Wuyue. “Can my sister come along?”

“Let him,” the MDT interjected. “He’s seen quite a bit already and he’s pretty reliable. We need an outsider like him on our side as well. Give him a life collar. The air there could affect him as well.”

“Alright.” Hao Ren nodded at Nangong Sanba and threw him a shining silver collar. “Put this around your neck. It’ll ensure your survival in any environment. Becky, you too.”

Nangong Sanba mumbled as he put the collar on, “Why does this thing feels so goddamn wrong…”

Lily’s ears perked up as she heard it. She obviously had a different view on wearing collars. She loved collars to bits! But sadly, she did not seem to need the life collar this time around…

“Please wait,” Anna called out as she noticed that the group was about to go through the fissure. She stepped forward in haste. “Can you bring me along?”

Vivian smiled as she gently pinched Anna’s cheeks. “You coming all the way here is dangerous enough. You didn’t tell your papa that you came down here, right? Make your way back before he passes out again.” Vivian looked at her underling’s granddaughter endearingly. Only God knew how many generations had passed since, and she could not help but want to pamper her.

Anna never thought that the witch would be so friendly and she stiffened. Nonetheless, she shook her head with much determination. ” I want to see what the other world’s like… Papa won’t notice.”

Vivian looked at Anna’s expression, and suddenly realized something. “Because of Tannagost? The vengeful spirit left some impressions of the place in your mind?”

Anna nodded. “Nnn… I don’t remember the exact place, but I think I’ve seen a picture of the other world, and gotten a glimpse of some of the knowledge there. I want to see it for myself, or else the voice won’t truly be gone from my mind.”

Hao Ren talked to the rest for a bit. In the end, he finally took out a collar and gave it to the young girl. “Put it on. No matter what you see over there, don’t panic, and don’t run.”

After everyone collected themselves, they took a deep breath, and stepped through the light veil.

As they crossed it, a familiar feeling engulfed Hao Ren. His senses were torn away and he felt ephemeral, almost as if the world was from a waking dream. Just as his senses left him, it returned the next second.

His instincts told him that he had indeed crossed the Wall of Reality, and “arrived” in another realm.

As the faint purple light faded, Hao Ren opened his eyes, and found himself in a wide plaza.

Looking around, it was obvious that the plaza was man-made. It was a circular plaza about a few hundred meters wide. Circling the plaza, were stone columns that glimmered in gold; they were almost like Roman columns, just as grand and awe-inspiring. Further in the distance, were identical glimmering infrastructures and a tower of unknown use. All of these buildings were upon a hill, and as Hao Ren came to the border of the plaza, he could see rows upon rows of wondrous buildings beyond it.

However, all these buildings seemed like they had gone through an earth-shattering change. Many of them were already in a collapsed state. Cracks were all over the skyscrapers, and the high towers were in ruin. These cracks glittered under the bright sun, and gave off an atmosphere of grandeur as well as desolation.

The skies were clear with a faint yellow star hanging up in the air. It was a world much more vibrant that initially expected.

“Whoaaaa.” Lily gawked at the scene before her as she wagged her tail in excitement. “I thought this place would be as dead as a graveyard….”

“This is the home of the vengeful spirits?” Nangong Wuyue could not believe her eyes. She never thought that the spirits, who brought nothing but destruction and fear could live in such a wondrous world. “This city… is like the realm of gods…”

Hao Ren glanced at Wuyue. “Don’t use that comparison. Our goddess’ realm seems to get wrecked every now and then.”

Lily pointed towards the ruins in the distance. “It’s pretty wrecked over there too!”

Becky almost lost it because of the bunch of awestruck fools. “Can you guys focus on the task at hand? Let’s confirm if this place is the Plane of Dreams!”

Hao Ren tapped the MDT and the latter flew into the air. It came back moments later. “The universe’s background radiation match, the various constants match, but the galactic map needs reconfirmation. I can’t calculate it at the moment. Conclusion: This is the Plane of Dreams. Congratulations adventurers, you have found a stable pathway into the Plane of dreams… One of them.

Although Hao Ren had already suspected it earlier, he could not help but heave a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness… Looks like Lady Luck is with us today.”

Becky was stunned as she heard the MDT’s report. She started clapping, glee apparent on her face. She went, “Yeaaaahhh!!!” before falling backwards. Hao Ren quickly grabbed her as he shouted, “Can someone slap the hysteria out of her?!”

The mercenary’s eyes lit up as she ran about the plaza like she had overdosed on stimulants. “I’m home! I’m home! I’m finally home!!!” My gold, my mansion, my knighthood! my…”

She snapped out of it halfway through. “…Where’s my stuff?”

Hao Ren shook his head as he looked at the greedy mercenary. “Who knows. Your place could be 800 light years away from here. The fissure’s connection to the Plane of Dreams isn’t the same as the one we used back home. So, can you just pipe down, and join us for some tomb raiding?”

Becky stuck her tongue out before joining the rest to explore the lost world.