The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 569

Chapter 569: Water Problem

When he was at home, Hao Ren had a habit of going out for a stroll. After breakfast, he would take the cat and mooch around town for an hour. Occasionally, he would meet his acquaintances and have a casual chat. For him, this was a blissful life. Although Lily occasionally teased that he was like a retired veteran, Hao Ren could care less because this was the life he enjoyed.

However, ever since Rollie transformed into a human, this daily affair had become less easy. When he took her out for a walk previously, he did not have to worry about the silly cat. He could just let her run loose, and as soon as she had played enough, she would come back up. But now, things were different: in the short distance between his house and Whitestone Road, Hao Ren had dragged the cat girl up from the ground three times in a row, and he even had to pull her head out of a trash bin once…

Hao Ren had been feeling pretty exhausted lately. He adjusted the wide-brim hat on the cat’s head (used to conceal her ears) and said, “When will you learn to live the human lifestyle?”

“I’ve learned it, so you should give me small dried fish. I didn’t get to eat at home!”

Y’zaks was walking in front with his daughter on his shoulder. He heard and smiled. “Didn’t you say you wanted to let Rollie go to Aerym in the future? Why are you still bringing her along?”

“Only if she can stay put at home first.” Hao Ren sighed helplessly. “She’ll follow whoever’s going out. If she doesn’t get her way, she’ll scratch the door, or gnaw at the curtains. So instead of letting her go out with Lily and getting herself into trouble, I’ll take care of her personally.”

The cat girl tilted her head, listening. She had actually been showing a little more understanding in recent days. At the very least, she already knew that her demeanor was causing trouble for her master. So, she tried to observe, albeit with the intelligence of a cat. She squatted next to Hao Ren and began to rub his leg. “Big Boss Cat, you’re happy, right? You guys are really troublesome…”

Hao Ren was speechless.

Mooching about near the south of Whitestone Road, there were more people coming out for their morning walk. That aside, the population of the Southern Suburbs had been declining. Whitestone Road and the back-alley business street were the only places with more crowds. Everyone sort of knew one another in this little town, so it was not a surprise that Hao Ren would bump into someone he knew. “Hao Ren, I heard that you were on a business trip two days ago?”

And there were also those who were braver, or just had a somewhat stronger taste. They would be the ones to greet Y’zaks. “Daquan, just got out of the slammer again?”

Basically, those in the second category were local old ladies.

Of course, they were just joking. Although Y’zaks had caused a lot of trouble in the Southern Suburbs when he first arrived, a year later he had become rather well-known by the locals on Whitestone Road. The elderlies in the neighborhood all knew the big guy with a vicious face but good nature. They had let down their guard after several cautious encounters with him. Y’zaks had been helpful to the neighbors by carrying their cooking gas cylinders, moving a truck-load of bricks, repairing their houses and things like that. He had successfully integrated into the social circle in the Southern Suburbs; considering his notorious face, it was an epic achievement for him.

Naturally, occasional misunderstandings were still inevitable. There were still people who would call the police when they saw a big guy like Y’zaks for the first time, but one could not blame them. When Hao Ren first brought Y’zaks out, calls to the police station spiked by at least 50 %, so after several misunderstandings like that, the first thing the old ladies on Whitestone Road uttered when they saw Y’zaks was always, “Just got out of the slammer again?”

Sitting on Y’zaks’ shoulders, Y’lisabet giggled. “My dad is so awe-inspiring wherever he goes!”

Y’zaks laughed and could not help but turn to look at Hao Ren. “Looks do matter, eh?”

At this time, the four of them arrived in front of the grocery store at the intersection. Hao Ren looked up and saw the chubby boss sweeping away the water on the road as the road was flooded and its drainage holes were submerged in water. Hao Ren greeted him from a distance. “Hi Boss, washed your car?”

“No, it’s the water pipe. It burst again!” Sweat ran down the chubby boss’ forehead as he waved at Hao Ren. “This has happened three times in two days. Something’s wrong with the pumping station. Sometimes there’s no water, sometimes the pressure becomes so high that it just overwhelms the valve.”

A diner who was having breakfast in a nearby stall looked up and said, “At least the pipes around here still flow. My house has gone without water for two days. The strange thing is, my neighbors are still getting water. So, I have no choice but to eat out.”

“Could it be that the water pipe in your house is clogged?” Hao Ren swiftly answered. “You’re all getting water from the same main pipe. It’s impossible that you’re the only one without water.”

“God knows what’s going on. It’s not even winter yet, so the pipeline wouldn’t be frozen. Anyway, things have been abnormal lately. When I turn on the tap, I can hear the water flowing in the pipe, but nothing comes out. My brother’s coming by to check it out tomorrow. He’s a plumber.”

At this time, a middle-aged man who was enjoying sweet bean curd at a nearby table suddenly raised his head and sulkily said, “There’s nothing wrong with the pumping station. My son’s working there.”

The chubby boss put down his broom and gasped. “Then, what’s happening?”

“Nobody seems to know what’s going on in the pumping station. My son’s been working overtime for the past two days. He said there’s no problem with the pump, just that the water pressure’s unstable. A back flow occurred once and a pressure pump was fried as a result. “The middle-aged man shook his head and slurped down the last sip of sweet bean curd cleanly from his bowl. “My son said the pumping station’s spooky.”

The stall owner scoffed at him and said, “Lao Zhang, stop it. Now it feels like some sort of ghost sh*t.”

Other diners as well as the chubby boss of the grocery store each cracked a few jokes. They complained about the abnormal water supply during the two days, and Lao Zhang’ superstition before they dispersed. Hao Ren stepped forward and called out to the middle-aged man, who was paying his bill and was about to leave. “Hey bro, did you say that the pumping station’s been a little spooky these past two days? In what way?”

“It was just a joke. Don’t take it seriously.” The middle-aged man waved and smiled. “I don’t understand a thing he says about the pumping station.”

Hao Ren nodded. He turned around thoughtfully and was about to leave. However, he realized that the silly cat was missing. He quickly looked around and saw the cat girl squatting next to the stall and leering at the owner.

The stall owner looked helpless and turned to Hao Ren. “Is she your girlfriend? Is this a habit she has?”

Hao Ren choked. He quickly explained, “No, no. She’s my sister… Get back up!”

“I want to eat steamed buns,” said the silly cat, turning her head. “I’m hungry. Give me a bun!”

People threw her weird stares and cold sweat started to trickle down Hao Ren’s forehead. He had no choice but to quickly buy two buns for the silly cat. The silly cat had developed a covetous appetite lately—she just had her breakfast an hour ago!

Only after they arrived at a secluded place did Y’zaks say, “So, you think there’s a problem?”

“The water supply…” Hao Ren crossed his arms and nodded lightly. “I think my instincts are usually sharp. Something is amiss. If what they say is true, then it’s all supernatural. Maybe it has something to do with the otherworldlings.”

“Maybe it’s just a rumor. Don’t worry about it,” Y’zaks said.

“It’s really not a big deal, but I have too much time on my hands now. Besides, an inspector has to always be observant and keep a sharp intuition.” Hao Ren shrugged. “Let’s ask Wuyue when she’s back—she’s in charge of water. Let’s treat it as a community service.”

The cat girl was holding her bun. She looked up at Hao Ren, and then at Y’zaks before she took half of her bun and shoved it to Hao Ren. “So, this one’s for you.”

Hao Ren simply could not understand the cat’s logic. How did her brain work? How did she process information? It was an unsolved mystery. Why did she say “so”?

Hao Ren had been waiting at home before Nangong Wuyue finally returned at noon. He told her what he heard on the streets that day. Wuyue frowned as if something had crossed her mind. “Is the water in other places abnormal too? If that’s the case, it does seem to be a problem.”

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Chapter 570: The Pumping Station

Nangong Wuyue knited her brows together. “Is the water in other places abnormal too? If that’s the case, it does seem like a problem.”

Hao Ren had no clue. “Huh? What have you found out?”

“Two days ago, houses in the neighborhood have been complaining about irregular water supply. There’s even a family with three water pipes at home; one of which has no more water flow, while the other two still have water. Mr. Lee also complained that while washing vegetables at home, the tap water suddenly stopped and flowed back into the pipe. It scared the hell out of his granny.” Nangong Wuyue was sitting on the sofa, playing with Lil Pea while telling them what she had heard outside two days ago. She was a well-behaved girl. Her years of wandering life made her possess an affinity with people, so people in town were familiar with her. “But not every family’s encountering this problem. As the pumping station in this part of the suburbs has its fair share of problems from time to time, the issue hasn’t been widely regarded as mysterious yet.”

Never did Hao Ren expect to find so so many anomalies in this incident. However, the more he thought about it, the more unusual he felt. “There’s no such problem in our house.”

“Yeah, that’s because I’ve been making water so far.” The siren waved and created a little water sphere in the air. Lil Pea immediately jumped in and swam in it happily. “The water supply in our house has stopped for two days. I’m the one who’s been keeping the tap flowing.”

Hao Ren scratched his chin. “It appeares to be a supernatural phenomenon. Who’s gonna follow me to the pumping station?”

Lily had just returned home, and she was lying listlessly on the couch. Staring at the TV, she appeared to be watching a dog food commercial. “I’m dog-tired… Plus, I’m already a world savior. Why do I have to work hard like this… I want to watch TV.”

“I’ll go with Mr. Landlord.” Vivian wiped her hand as she walked out of the kitchen. She then untied her apron and looked at Lily. “You have so little life experience. As an otherworldling, you’re completely unaware of the supernatural phenomena in your surroundings. There could be otherworldings there if not demon hunters. How could a canine have such low territorial awareness?”

The words “territorial awareness” struck home and Lily jumped down from the sofa. “I’ll follow! Why have I not realized this?”

Hao Ren was as loose-tongued as ever, saying, “Because you haven’t marked your territory with pee, right?”

Of course Lily got mad at him, because Hao Ren was left with several bite marks on his arms—the canine maiden had finally found the optimal biting force that would not trigger the Steel Membrane Shield but leave bite marks on his arms.

Hao Ren fled from Lily in a panic. No one came to his aid. Even Vivian shook her head and said, “How can you say that to a girl? Not to a female, Mr. Landlord.”

Nangong Wuyue patted Hao Ren on the shoulder and said, “You know, you won’t survive more than two episodes in a TV series if you keep being foul-mouthed like this. Listen to me, Mr. Landlord—repent!”

Hao Ren was at a lost for words.

Lily snarled at Hao Ren for a long moment before she came up to him and licked the bite marks on his arms. This meant that she was done with the punishment. Meanwhile, Hao Ren was pushing away the silly cat, who came up to lick him without being invited. He looked around and asked, “So, who else is going to the pumping station with me?”

Nangong Wuyue quickly pulled her brother up and said, “My brother’s joining us; I’m familiar with water while my brother has a lot of investigative experience.”

They then left for the only pumping station in the Southern Suburbs. The pumping station was on the northern side of the town, but it was not too far from where they lived. It took them ten minutes to drive there.

And let us not forget that Hao Ren has a car now.

Speaking of the pumping station, it was a familiar place to Hao Ren. Since the Southern Suburbs was far from the city, various facilities were lagging behind, and the pressure of the water supply network had become a long-standing problem. Ten years ago, people there made complaints several times, thus the water company set up a pumping station to pressurize the pipe network. Hao Ren remembered when he was in middle school, he liked to sneak out to play at the pumping station. He would peek into the red brick room from the window and watch the water pump rumble. After that, he would tease and fight with the dogs in the yard. It was a time of youth and innocence. The young man who was destined to embark on an extraordinary journey was battle-hardened by the vicious dogs. His greatest wish was to win at least once when he fought the dogs in the yard…

Most of the old courtyard dogs had died, hence he had not been able to make his wish come true.

The pumping station was surrounded by a brick wall. The large iron gate was left ajar and there was an occasional sound of rumbling heard coming from the pumping room. Hao Ren parked his car in the open space outside the yard. As soon as they walked up to the gate, dogs started to bark as several German Shepherds in chains ran out and charged at the intruders. Their menacing behavior was exactly the same as their predecessors. Hao Ren scoffed at them and said, “B*tch, your forefathers didn’t even dare bark at me!”

Hearing that, Lily immediately barked at the leading German Shepherd and turned to look at Hao Ren. “They said that back then, you were chased by their uncles. You even fled by climbing up the old jujube trees in the courtyard once and you were too afraid to come down for a good whole day.”

Busted, Hao Ren mumbled to himself, “…Dang, I forgot that girl speaks foreign languages!”

At this time, a sturdy old German Shepherd strolled out into the yard. It gave a few symbolic barks when it saw Hao Ren. It was as though it still remembered the naughty kid who threw stones into the courtyard from the top of the wall 10 years ago. Hao Ren sighed and lamented about how time flew. Then, he saw someone coming out of the pumping station. It was a young man with an arm cut. He had to be the person in charge of the pumping station.

“Who are you looking for?” the young man asked before he turned and scolded the dogs. “Go back in! Go!”

“I’m from town. What’s been happening to the water supply these two days?” Hao Ren asked with a smile.

People in the city may not be accustomed to the life in this outlying suburb where people were accustomed to finding and talking directly with the relevant “unit” when there was a problem. Going to the pumping station for water supply problems, the boiler room for heating issues, the substation for power failure; whether it was the inquirer or the inquired, they were all used to it. Such was the unique “community ecology” of this developed backwater.

There had probably been others who came to complain for the past two days. The young man appeared a little impatient and hapless. “The water pressure in the water tower is abnormal, and I can’t do anything about it. People up there have asked for an expert’s assistance, so please go home and wait.”

Hao Ren chatted up the young man while Nangong Wuyue pretended to be a curious bunny. She strolled into the courtyard sneakily, listening carefully to the sound inside the pumps. The young man saw this and quickly reminded her, “Don’t step inside the courtyard. There are dogs inside and they’re on a long leash.”

But he did not realize it when Lily poked her head into the courtyard for a peek. The vicious German Shepherds bowed down to her like they were paying homage to their ancestor.

Suddenly, there was a creaking noise inside the pumping station, and someone called out. The young man quickly ran back in as he said, “Something’s wrong with the impeller again. I’ve got to go back in to take a look. You guys should go home.”

After the young man went back in, Hao Ren looked at Nangong Wuyue and asked, “What did you find?”

“The water is definitely not normal,” said the siren, pointing to a corner of the yard. “It’s obviously a supernatural phenomenon.”

Hao Ren followed the direction of Nangong Wuyue’s finger and found that there was water trickling on the wet concrete wall. But the most incredible thing was, the water was moving up the wall!

Lily sniffed around and said, “I have a feeling that there’s a problem with the air humidity too… Some places are very dry and some areas are as humid as in front of a waterfall. There seems to be a high moisture content in the air.”

“Is it someone of your fellow race?” Hao Ren suddenly thought of the siren’s water manipulation ability, so he turned to look at Wuyue. “Can sirens detect their own?”

“Yes, but it has be close enough. And since humans added bleach to the water supply, this sensory talent won’t be very useful in residential areas. Nevertheless, I can try.” Nangong Wuyue frowned as she sensed the flow of the abnormal vapor in the air, and found that all abnormal vapors were concentrated towards a certain place.

She looked up at the water tower 100 m away.

No one else could see any anomalies in the water tower, but in Nangong Wuyue’s eyes, the water tower was fully covered with fine lines, while numerous water molecules floated around in defiance of the law of nature.

It looked like the guy at the pumping was right. The water pressure was most unusual in the water tower.

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The Record of Unusual Creatures has been included in the premium program. This means that chapters will only be accessible through Spirit Stones. A mass release of at least 10 chapters will be done the day Premium is implemented. Please continue to support us! Thanks!

 

Chapter 571: There’s a Siren In There

The water tower was right next to the pumping station and surrounded by a patch of wasteland. It was a traditional water tower: a vertical concrete tower with a large storage tank on top. Hao Ren used to climb up its iron ladder when he was a child. Looking back on his juvenile mischief, he found it so unbelievable. Now, karma was hitting him as the fish at home was driving him nuts.

When they arrived at the water tower, it was unattended. Lily swiftly circled the concrete outer wall and discovered some anomalies: the anti-gravity water flow, and water lines could be seen wafting around at a few inconspicous corners. If not for the deserted and remote nature of the place, as well as the nearby workers not noticing the anomalies while they inspected the water tower, this phenomenon might have attracted the attention of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Hao Ren was glad that he had decided to come. As it turned out, there was indeed a supernatural phenomenon!

“Sure enough, there’s a smell of my own kind…” Nangong Wuyue observed everything carefully before she said with her eyes wide open, “How in the world did a siren come here?!”

Hao Ren was delighted to hear of another siren. He had wanted to get acquainted with a normal siren for a long time. The mysterious ocean city across the deep seabed was a great mystery he still remembered to this day. It was the key to interpreting the heterogeneous phenomenon on Earth. However, Nangong Wuyue was of no help in this respect. Normal sirens never walked into this world, and the group of sirens who surfaced a couple of hundred years ago had mostly disappeared. Hence, his progress had gained little headway in this regard.

Now to his surprise, there was a siren in the Southern Suburbs!

“The scent’s coming from the reservoir.” Nangong Wuyuw’s eyes were filled with light as she focused her sight on the reservoir. “Let’s go up there and take a look.”

Seeing that no one else would come by, Hao Ren and his buddies immediately climbed up the water tower. They looked around the circular iron frame at the top of the water tower and found an opening to the reservoir. Nangong Sanba effortlessly removed the rusted iron lid. Hao Ren was surprised and said, “Oh, I didn’t know locksmithing was also a skill among demon hunters.”

“…Just a trick of the trade,” Nangong Sanba replied.

The reservoir was a rough, thick barrel with a stainless steel platform on top for maintenance purposes. Looking down from the platform, one could see the glittering water surface below. The MDT turned on its lighting as Hao Ren looked down. But he found nothing.

“There’s nothing in here.” Nangong Sanba poked his head in and scanned the water for a long while. “You may have gotten it wrong, Wuyue.”

Nangong Wuyue shook her head and jumped straight down from the stainless steel platform. She stood steadily on the water as she walked around and observed her suroundings carefully. “No… I can feel it. She’s in the water… but it seems like she’s hiding from us.”

Lily thought for a moment before she yelled at the water below. “Hey! Is someone there? We’re not bad people! We’re here for you!”

There were loud echoes and sounds of water, but no one responded to Lily’s cries.

Vivian frowned and summoned a small swarm of bats with electric lights flashing from them. “Please show yourself and speak with us. We’re not going to hurt you. However, if you keep hiding, I’ll have to send electric current into the water.”

Before Vivian’s voice trailed off, everyone immediately stepped back. Lily pointed at the stainless steel shelves beneath their feet and the iron pipes that extended into the water. “Can you not do this every time, Battie? How many times have you accidentally struck your teammates with your lightning strike?”

But the water in the reservoir was still quiet with only the noise from the pipeline echoing inside.

Finally, Hao Ren could not help it any longer. He took out a large plastic bottle from his Dimensional Pocket and pretended to tip the bottle to empty its contents into the water below. “Listen, whoever’s in there, if you insist on not coming out, I’m going to empty the vinegar into the water! Yes, you heard right, vinegar!”

Hao Ren had suddenly remembered that Wuyue’s biggest weakness was vinegar. She could be dehydrated for a whole day with just a drop of vinegar. Of course, he could not really tip the bottle—after all, the water was the residents’ lifeline.

However, the siren hidden there could not have possibly guessed it. With a burst, the water swelled and quickly condensed into a translucent human figure, who looked like a young girl. A voice was then heard. “Don’t be an a**hole! Since when have I troubled you? I’ve just been sleeping here!”

Hao Ren smiled and put away the bottle of vinegar. “Do you realize that you’ve troubled all the people in town? Fortunately, we’re the ones who’ve come to check on the situation. Othewise, if not the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it would be the demon hunters who’ll be paying you a visit in two days’ time. Then, you would be in bigger trouble!”

The human-shaped body of water floated and looked at them very cautiously. “Who are you? How did you find me? And I can feel my own kind present in this neighborhood… Is it you people?”

“It’s me.” Nangong Wuyue waved as her body displayed a ripple-like wave. “See, I’m also a siren.”

As soon as Nangong Wuyue revealed herself, the siren became agitated. She leaned her back against the wall of the reservoir, and splashed the water around, sounding extremely angry. “Aren’t you satisfied yet? What’s wrong with you guys that you have to keep pursuing us? What have we done to offend you?”

Hao Ren immediately frowned as he felt something behind her defensive reaction. “What do you mean? Who wants to catch you? Other sirens?”

“Are you playing dumb?” The siren looked cautious as she stared at Hao Ren (it was presumably a cautious expression, since she was transparent, it was not very easy to read her face). “You guys traced me here, and brought so many people, aren’t you going to catch me?”

Nangong Wuyue was a little lost on the plot, but the first thing was to clarify the misunderstanding. “You’ve misunderstood. We don’t know what you’re talking about. I was born on the shore. You see, I don’t blend into the water like you do.”

“You’re a terrestrial siren?” The water figure cautiously went closer to Nangong Wuyue. “Indeed… there’s a slight impurity in your scent. But, I still can’t believe you. Let me see your pure water.”

Nangong Wuyue nodded. A small droplet of water was divided from her body and it flew towards the other siren before it fused into her body. Only then did the other siren began to let down her guard. “You’re really not a pure siren. Strange, I’ve never expected to see a mixed bred here. So, you’re not here to catch me?”

Hao Ren spread out his hands and said, “That’s what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning.”

“Then, why have you come to me?” The other siren swam up to them and asked, “How did you find me?”

Hao Ren told her about the abnormalities in the nearby water supply, and the fact that he came to investigate the situation. He then pointed to the reservoir. “Don’t you know what this place is?”

“No, I don’t.” The other siren was surprised by Hao Ren’s question. “Isn’t this just a pond? Have I offended anyone by staying here?”

Hao Ren blinked and turned to look at Nangong Wuyue. “Are all sirens lacking in common sense?”

“How did you think the last group of sirens fall into the love trap set by humans?” Nangong Wuyue said, feeling embarrassed. “But to tell you the truth… it’s been over a hundred years, yet she hasn’t grown up. That’s very rare. I think she must have been hiding with some hermits in the mountains.”

The other siren looked at them and was curious about their conversation. “Are you talking bad about me?”

Hao Ren quickly waved his hand. “No, we’re not. Can you get out of here? The situation you’ve caused has caught the attention of the ordinary people. Before long, the demon hunters will sniff you out and come for you.”

“I’m recuperating here.” The other siren shook her head. “I’ll go only if you can provide me plenty of water, and it must be living water.”

Hao Ren thought for a moment and looked at Nangong Wuyue. “Do you think the tap water in our house is enough?”

He had an inkling that the siren, who was soaking and recuperating in the reservoir had to be consuming a great amount of water, so he did not think that he could do it. However, Nangong Wuyue nodded without as much as a thought. “It will definitely do. I only need a pot of water for shapeshifting. Yup, it’s enough.”

It turned out that the other siren was not going to use too much water for her healing process. Despite that, the siren was a wild creature who loved clean water, hence she was prone to go where there was lot of clean water.

And she had discovered a really good place.

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The Record of Unusual Creatures has been included in the premium program. This means that chapters will only be accessible through Spirit Stones. A mass release of at least 10 chapters will be done the day Premium is implemented. Please continue to support us! Thanks!

 

Chapter 572: Changes In the Deep Sea

The nervous siren had revealed a lot of intriguing information in her words, which obviously had something to do with the mysterious undersea city. Hao Ren decided to bring her back and quiz her no matter what—perhaps the key to entering the undersea city was with this siren.

Although the siren was a bit nervous, she did not lack in vigilance. She talked with them for a long time before she finally agreed to go with Hao Ren. Lily was a little curious as she asked, “Why are sirens so timid? Shouldn’t creatures like you be fearless?”

“Things like that are personal,” Nangong Wuyue replied after she heard what Lily said. “Aren’t you also very timid?”

Lily was speechless.

After Wuyue told the siren where she would bring her to, the latter began to solidify. A moment of gurgling sounds later, the translucent female figure quickly solidified and colorized. Eventually, she transformed into a girl with big eyes and curly, light brown hair. She slowly climbed up and out of the reservoir, revealing her upper body. It was “dressed’ in a beautiful layer of skin just like Nangong Wuyue’s. Meanwhile, her lower body was the beautiful tail of a sea serpent. Hao Ren noticed that a large part of the scales on her tail had lost its luster. It looked like it was burned by strong acid: no wonder she mentioned that she was still recovering from an injury. Judging from the siren’s state of health, it seemed that her wound was not going to heal anytime soon. Perhaps, the one who inflicted the injury was no ordinary enemy.

“What happened to you?” Nangong Wuyue asked. “Can’t you heal yourself?”

“It was the Queen’s Guard who did this to me. Their water arrows were poisonous, but I’m much better now.” The siren looked down at her tail, feeling bad. “It’s just that my clothes are ruined… Such a pretty dress… I don’t even know what I’ve done wrong.”

Nangong Wuyue could not help but ask, “The Queen’s Guard?”

“You don’t even know this?” The siren was surprised, but quickly came to realization. “Oh yes, you were born on land. The Queen is well, the queen of the sirens and the Queen’s Guard is her royal guard. They wanted to catch me.”

Hao Ren could feel that there was more to this incident. He immediately waved his hand and said, “It looks like things are a bit complicated. This is not the place to talk. Let’s head home—are you afraid of dizziness?”

The siren had no clothes and she could only remain in her siren form. Hao Ren was worried that people would spot her if he were to bring her home the normal way, so he got the MDT to open a portal. The siren froze for a second before saying, “Dizziness? No, no. I used to play in the whirlpool.”

With no worry of causing her any discomfort, Hao Ren threw the MDT out. “Open the door!”

As a white light flashed, everyone returned to the living room before they knew it. The MDT yelled and protested, “Can you not issue such a dubious command? How old are you?”

Meanwhile, Y’zaks and his daughter, Y’lisabet were studying an appliance maintenance booklet in the living room. When they heard movemen, they invariably turned and saw the female stranger behind Hao Ren. Y’lisabet was very surprised. “Hey, didn’t you go to the pumping station, Uncle Ren? Why did you bring back a ‘new friend’ instead? This… Um, this girl’s also a siren?”

“It’s a long story, and I haven’t figured out her background yet. She was staying in the water tower next to the pumping station, and it messed up the water supply in the Southern Suburbs. The whole town has essentially been drinking fish soup for days,” Hao Ren said as he gestured to the siren. “Please make yourself at home. This house is a sanctuary. Everyone here isn’t normal. What’s your name? Sorry, I forgot to ask.”

“Shaqira,” the siren replied as her eyes darted around the seemingly normal residential building. “This is what you call… a shelter? Looks like an ordinary house. Does it have a fortress and wall on the outside?”

It looked like this Shaqira had really spent some time together with an otherworldling family in a remote mountainous area. If you had heard her speak of her fortress, you would know that it could not have possibly been anywhere near Third Ring Road…

“This is how our shelter looks like,” said Hao Ren as his mouth twisted in a quirky manner. “But its defense capability is absolutely reliable. It’s even more reliable than the place you used to hide in. Why don’t you sit down first, I have some questions to ask you.”

“But before that, can you first find me some water ?” Shaqira coiled herself up in the middle of the living room as she pointed at the wound on her tail. “I told you that I need a lot of running water. You promised. Please.”

Hao Ren smacked himself on the forehead and pointed at the bathroom. “Lily, get the bathtub ready.”

Before his voice trailed off, the MDT flew over and said, “Are you screwed up in the head? I’ve been wanting to remind you: what do you think the medical pods at home are for?”

“…I forgot!”

Shaqira looked at these weirdos curiously. “What are you guys talking about? You’re not going to even give me a pot of water, aren’t you?”

“We have a medical treatment chamber that’s more effective than a bathtub here.” Nangong Wuyue held Shaqira’s arm cheerfully—it was not every day that she could see her own kind. She had been very excited, and to be able to flaunt the high-tech gadget made her happy even though they were not hers. “Come here; let me show you the high-tech gadget!”

Nangong Wuyue led the clueless Shaqira away. She wanted to resist at first, but relented when she sensed no ill intent in Wuyue. Shaqira was more curious about who these weirdoes were.

Honestly, everything had gone by too fast and she just could not react in time.

When Shaqira saw the strange white boxes in the basement, she could not help but lose her composure and ask, “What’s this?”

Hao Ren could not explain too much to the siren, whom he knew little about. Therefore, he just glossed it over. “It’s a type of medical equipment. I’m a shaman, and my approach is a little unconventional. This is what I use to treat different types of injuries.”

Shaqira knitted her brows together. “I don’t go out often, but I’m not stupid—when has a shaman ever use such things?”

Hao Ren rolled his eyes as he said, “Well, it’s entirely up to you to believe it or not. I can give you a large basin and you can soak in it, but the thing is, the bathtub won’t work as fast as this thing.”

Shaqira was hesitant. Obviously, she was not ready to trust these strangers, whom she had just met half an hour ago. But at the same time, she could not find a reason why they would want to hurt her. No matter how she looked at it, this weird motley crew did not seem like bad people after all. They just did not have that look in them.

Nangong Wuyue became a little impatient when she noticed Shaqira hesitating. She patted her fellow siren on the shoulder and said, “Why don’t you just treat it as going in for some rest? You can’t die in there anyway. Come on, transform into a fish; this tail of yours won’t fit in there…”

Shaqira transformed into a mermaid under Nangong Wuyue’s persistent urging. However, before she jumped in, her sense of caution still got the upper hand. “Wait a second! I really still feel—”

Before Shaqira could finish her sentence, Y’lisabet suddenly lunged from the back and knocked her into the hibernation or medical pod with her head. The poor siren could only scream, and before she managed to raise her tail, she was already inside the casket.

The demon girl clapped her hands and said, “Stop the crap!”

Hao Ren was startled for a moment before he turned around to look at Y’zaks. “You should really teach your daughter some manners.”

Y’zaks’ face was deadpan as he pinched Y’lisabet’s ear. “Don’t ever knock people with your head again! Don’t you know your horns are getting sharper and sharper?”

The others then spoke in unison, “That’s not the point!”

Hao Ren had been a bit worried that the medical pod would not be able to deal with Shaqira’s injury. Creatures such as the sirens were unique. Conventional therapies may not have been able to deal with their amorphous body. Plus, Shaqira mentioned that her wound was inflicted by a so-called Lethal Water Arrow. Hao Ren had doubs that the medical pod would be able to pinpoint the “lesion” after her body transformed. However, it turned out that he did not have to worry about it at all: After three minutes, the lid of the medical pod opened, and Shaqira jumped out, looking as fit as a fiddle.

“Wow, am I healed?” Shaqira looked at her fish tail in surprise. “Even the gray scales are gone!”

Nangong Wuyue smiled, wrapping her arms around herself. “Now you know that I wasn’t lying to you. Please tell us what happened.”

“Oh, give me a minute. I’ll have to turn back into a sea serpent first. Fish tails aren’t particularly stable when standing on land…”

It seemed that all sirens had this problem.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Chapter 573: News of the Sirens

Everyone had gathered around in the living room. Shaqira was lying on the sofa, and her body length meant that the entire sofa was completely taken up. Rollie was very unhappy when she saw this. She meowed for a good while to signal that the sofa armrest was her territory. It took Hao Ren a box of cat biscuits to distract her.

Shaqira took a curious glance at the various unusual creatures at home. “I’ve never seen a place like yours. There are so many different races mingling together. Won’t they fight? I’ve heard that werewolves and vampires are mortal enemies.”

Hao Ren pointed at Vivian and Lily. “They did fight when they first arrived, but things have gotten better. A harmonious co-existance is the motto of this place. Regardless of what sort of fight you’ve had outside, once you’re here, you’re family. The lanky guy seating across you is a demon hunter by the way.”

Shaqira’s tail automatically shrunk as she heard that. However, that was the extent of her surprise. “Whoa! How did you do that?”

“Is it me or does the siren not seem to be that afraid of demon hunters?” Hao Ren whispered to Vivian as he noticed Shaqira’s reaction.

Vivian nodded. “I told you before. The sirens are the only race that were not hunted by the demon hunters. Even if they were to meet, its usually without conflict. So to a siren, the demon hunters are just a scary-sounding bunch.”

“So, how did you end up like this?” Nangong Wuyue had also transformed into her serpentine form. Perhaps it was easier to gain Shaqira’s trust this way. She used her tail to point at the latter’s. “Why are you hurt? Why are the dwellers of the deep catching their own people? What were the royal guards up to?

“It’s a long, long tale. Let me start from the beginning.” Shaqira took a deep breath as she told her story, “I came to shore 100 years ago amongst the last of my batch. I remembered that there was a war going on back then… It was chaotic. I even got hit by coastal artillery. We followed the instructions of our seniors who had left before us and split up before looking for otherworldlings who were hidden. I first went to South America and lived with a group of werewolves. After that, I came over to Asia—”

Hao Ren interjected. “We already know that part. Did your people still work as a group after that? Do you still keep in touch?”

“We do, but very sporadically.” Shaqira’s tail was poking about with Wuyue’s. “We all knew where our batch went, as well as how many met with accidents and where they resurrected. But aside from that, nothing else. We all had our own mission, and that was all we needed to worry about before we waited to be summoned back to sea. I never expected to receive bad news from the deep.”

Hao Ren was intrigued. “What was your mission? Was it about the prophecy of the Day of Return? What is that prophecy about?”

Shaqira looked hesitant, and the sharp-eyed Vivian caught it. “Is it something that you can say? I suppose you can tell us since you’re already spreading the message to the otherworldlings in various sanctuaries. Small as we are here, this is still one of those sanctuaries.”

Shaqira had a rather complicated look on her face. “That’s not it… It’s… I don’t know how to explain it to you. We were only meant to bring word to the rest. The prophecy was passed down to us by the Queen herself, but she never explained the meaning of the prophecy to us.”

Everyone present looked at each other while Shaqira tried to jog her memory. “Umm… Let me recall… The original prophecy was something like this: ‘The Day of Return is coming, an ancient power from our homeland is summoning its lost kin. The darkness shall end, and a glorious dawn like that of the ancient times awaits all. A gate will open, and you will hear a voice, But before that, rally your kin, and let everyone have the opportunity to bask in the glory of the Day of Return. No one shall be left behind.’ This was what Her Majesty told us. Our task was to bring this word to all otherworldlings on land. Occasionally, we had to explain it based on our own understanding.”

“So, the whole ‘Day of Return’ is based on these few lines?” Hao Ren blinked. “And all of you just memorized these lines without actually finding out what they mean?”

Lily tilted her head as she added, “Some families actually mentioned that your kin were all very mysterious, and the prophecy sounded more like a con-job than anything. So, it was really all down to you guys not being sure on how to explain it?”

Shaqira was not the least bit embarrassed. “Yes, since we didn’t know how to explain, we just went with what we understood. How would I know that the surface races would interpret it that way.”

Vivian was trying to decipher the whole mumbo-jumbo on her head. Looking up at Shaqira, “Where did the Siren Queen find out about the prophecy? Did she only tell you what to say to the surface races and nothing else?”

Shaqira shook her head. “I don’t know. The Queen must have her own reasons. She arranged the rest as well. We are mere servants, we shouldn’t be asking too many questions.”

Hao Ren shrugged. There you go, a typical lackadaisical siren.

Even Nangong Wuyue was speechless towards her own kin. Her voice was rather stiff, “So, why did the royal guards suddenly want to bring you back? How did you know that they were here to arrest you instead of take you home? Weren’t you waiting for news to return?”

“At the very beginning, we didn’t suspect anything when someone was taken back.” Fear suddenly appeared on Shaqira’s face. “But things started to go wrong very quickly: The Queen was taking people back by force. We had already been on land for 100 years, and some of our friends had already gotten so used to living on land. They even had families here. They weren’t willing to go back, yet they were forcibly taken away by the Queen’s guards. This was not the same as what we were told. Supposedly, we could act on our own accord once we got on land, and we could pick the time once we completed our mission and received the summons. No one said anything about being dragged home.”

As Shaqira continued, she shook the tip of her tail. “A few of our friends then started to alert the rest. We aren’t sure of the source of the message though. Maybe it was one of the Queen’s guards who said that the Queen had undergone a massive change. She wanted to open a Gate of Return ahead of time and the captured sirens were being used as sacrifice or fuel… It was just so surreal that I immediately ran. Even then, I almost got caught. Just how unlucky am I? Who did I offend?”

Hao Ren immediately frowned when he heard this.

Something big had truly happened in the deep. He heard from Vivian before that the sirens were a peaceful race without quarrel with other races, and Shaqira was pretty much the embodiment of that trait. Yet, the Queen, the prophecy and the arrest as well as capture of their kin did not ring “peaceful” and “without quarrel” to him.

Lily thought for a bit before she asked, “How was your queen previously? Was there anything weird about her when she asked you to go to shore?”

“The Queen was a very wonderful person; a very wise one.” Shaqira rubbed her face. “However, I do remember a few things that were rather weird… The Queen had suddenly ordered the dispatch of messengers without much forewarning. And in the days after the dispatch, she was almost manic. She locked herself in her castle. Her closest confidantes said that she was thinking, and up until the time the last batch left, she never did once step out of the castle… Ugh… why am I telling you this?”

Hao Ren pushed himself forward. “This is important! Maybe we can help you solve this issue. We may be able to help not only you, but also your captured kin.”

Vivian also joined in, “That’s right. Just look around. We have many races here, and we’ll be glad to lend a hand. Tell us everything you know. What unusual actions did the Queen take when she ordered the dispatch… Or, were there any odd happenings in the city you lived in? These are all important.”

Shaqira blinked as she looked at the weirdos around her. She then decided that she would cooperate. She tried to jog her memory once again, and remembered a very important detail. “Oh right! I don’t know if this has to do with anything, but before the Queen ordered the dispatch, we had captured a weird-looking sea monster. The Queen only started to act all weird after the capture.”

“Sea monster?” Hao Ren eyes met with Vivian’s. “What kind of sea monster?”

“It was a blob of oddly-shaped red flesh with tentacles.” Shaqira tried to draw the shape of the monster in the air. “It looked almost like a swollen brain.”

 

Chapter 574: The Shadow of the Deep Sea

The moment Hao Ren heard Shaqira’s description, he could not help but exclaim, “Did you say a brain?!”

Shaqira was shocked by Hao Ren’s voice and her tail instantly wrapped around Wuyue’s, leading the latter to let out a strange yelp. As she released her grip, she looked at Hao Ren in surprise. “What’s with the brain? What do you know?”

As soon as Hao Ren opened his mouth, a bullet train of questions came out, “How big is the brain? How do its tentacles look like? How did it fight when you engaged it? How did—”

His series of questions had Shaqira in a whirpool of confusion. She motioned for Hao Ren to slow down. “Stop, stop, stop…. I can’t digest all of it at once. You mean to say you’ve seen the sea monster before? Do you know where it came from?”

Hao Ren bore a serious look as he nodded. “I didn’t just see one, I’ve taken one out myself… Hmm… More like a split body, but frankly speaking, that thing shouldn’t have appeared on Earth.”

Shaqira noticed the grim seriousness on everyone’s face and realized that this was something important. She then proceeded to describe what the monster looked like in detail, and brought up the process of the monster’s subjugation. “The monster suddenly crashed through the aquadome and landed in the middle of the city. No one had seen such a thing before and anyone around it turned delirious. The monster could also attack by casting magic with its tentacles, and the damage was rather considerable. After a while, the Queen and her royal guards came to subdue the monster. They locked it in the cell, but after that, the Queen started acting strange.”

“Your queen and her guards actually caught the thing?” Vivian bore a serious expression as well. “How did she do that?”

Shaqira shook her head. “I don’t know. All the information we had were from the soldiers who were present. Seems like the Queen used magic to subdue the brain creature. I wasn’t there though.”

Hao Ren found something rather off at first, but as he heard more and more, the whole thing just seemed awfully suspicious.

Aside from the part where the pacifist sirens could actually put up enough of a fight to subdue the brain—maybe there were some combat specialists among her royal gurards who could take the monster on—the question was, why did the Siren Queen started to act strangely after the monster was defeated?

Hao Ren had encountered the “brain monster” before, and while he knew that the monster was capable of very powerful mental assaults, they would not last long. The attacks could be stopped simply by drawing distance or eliminating the monster itself. Yet, the queen continued to act all strange after the defeat of the monster, and after 100 years, made the odd, but fateful decision to apprehend her own messengers. This led to only one possibility: the queen was still being influenced by the brain monster, and it was worsening.

“You lot didn’t vanquish the monster, right?” The same thing crossed Vivian’s mind and she popped the question before Hao Ren could.

Shaqira shook her head again. “No, it was still alive when I left 100 years ago. The queen had it locked in the deepest dungeon underneath the city. She said something about studying the monster.”

Vivian gave Hao Ren a motioning glance, and the two went upstairs to the balcony.

“Looks like the Siren Queen is under the monster’s thrall,” Hao Ren spoke solemnly. “The prophecy doesn’t seem to be the siren’s own, but a projection of the monster’s will.”

Vivian nodded softly. “If I’m not wrong… the Day of Return message that’s circulating right now is simply misinformation. The real meaning of ‘return’ is not what the otherworldlings think. Remember the Cult of Origination back in Holletta? I’m afraid that’s what the ‘return’ actually means.”

“‘Return your own flesh and blood, return your life to the goddess. Let the world and all life return to a swill of chaos, hence the sin of life is redeemed,’” Hao Ren recalled the insanity that was the Cult of Origination’s scripture. “Both the Siren Queen and the Cult of Origination have that giant brain thingy behind them… Looks like the brain’s goal is to return all of the goddess’ creation back to chaos. But why?”

“Who knows. Their brains were probably way too big for their own good and they lost a few nervous connections in the process?” Vivian quipped. “But there are many things still left unexplained. Why did the Siren Queen’s prophecy so muddled? Most otherworldlings made preparations to return home once they heard the prophecy. It’s way different from the whole idea of ‘return your own flesh and blood’. And how did that brain even come to Earth? Why did it choose the sirens, a reclusive race as its mouthpiece? Why not a race that’s much more influential? No matter what its plan is for the otherworldlings, starting from land is much easier than the sea. Just look at how reliable the sirens were when they first made it to shore…”

Hao Ren really took to the last part of what Vivian said. Those harmless Sirens could do anything but plot a scheme. Just looking at how that batch of sirens ended up, and then at Shaqira was proof…

Hao Ren rubbed his chin as he pondered. “Perhaps the Queen wasn’t fully under the monster’s thrall when she made the prophecy. Or, the monster was simply fishing for bigger fish, like how it had created a secret cult back in Holletta. So, it actually underestimated how the otherworldlings on Earth operated and overestimated how effective the sirens were at doing things. As for how it came to Earth…”

He thought about it for a moment before his expression turned serious. “I’m afraid that there are other gateways into the Plane of Dreams. And one of them’s in the deep sea.”

Of course, Hao Ren had no explanation as to why the sirens were made the mouthpiece. He had not figured out why Raven 12345 made a silly bugger like him her mouthpiece in the first place…

After a while the two made their way back to the living room and saw Shaqira playfully tail-wrestling with Wuyue. Hao Ren was immediately reminded of snakes doing their thing, and quickly coughed to draw their attention. “Ahem, Shaqira, I have a question. Can you bring us into the deep sea?”

It took Shaqira a good few moments to process that. “The deep sea?”

“The city of the Sirens.” Hao Ren made a sincere gesture. “Don’t reject me outright. Hear me out first. That brain monster is a very dangerous creature. It has plans to destroy all life and I’m afraid that your city is in deep peril. I’ve faced that monster before, and I know how it operates. It may have controlled your queen, so you’ll need to bring us there. Perhaps we can do something about it.”

Shaqira was dumbfounded, but seeing Hao Ren’s expression, she knew he was not joking. Upon recalling the things had happened to her, she started to ponder.

Wuyue used her tail to gently wrap around Shaqira’s. “Believe me, we mean you no harm. Besides, I want to see how my hometown looks like too… Mother always warned me to stay away from the deep sea. She was probably from a few batches earlier than yours. Maybe she had already sensed that something was wrong with the Queen and forbade me from leaving land.

Hao Ren only recalled the matter the moment Wuyue mentioned it. As a result, this expedition now felt even more important. He looked Shaqira in the eye. “I know that sirens don’t like to be disturbed by outsiders, but the situation demands action. You’ve already been hunted once, if you don’t get to the bottom of this, do you plan on hiding your entire life?”

The rest joined in on talking some sense into her as well. “Lady, listen to me, you need to adapt to your surroundings. Holding on to dead rules and regulations will not get you anywhere.”

A newspaper-wielding demon king was trying to talk sense into a siren. This scene was probably so ludicrous that you would not have seen it anywhere else other than in the telly.

Shaqira deliberated for a good while before she finally sighed. “You speak sense, and bringing a few outsiders into the city isn’t too big a thing. Nonetheless, I have a question… Can just the few of you… settle this?”

It appeared that the biggest issue was not the laws of the deep, it was Shaqira’s disbelief that this group could be of any help. She did not doubt that something was wrong back home, and she was very aware of it. She was also willing to believe that the group meant her no harm as they had just healed her wounds. She just did not believe that they had any sort of capability to resolve the issue in her city.