The Record of Unusual Creature

Eerie howls rang across the whole area, not much different from signal fires. While this may sound odd, Lily’s K9 squadron was the real deal. Like well trained scouts, each of them had their own patrol area. They were the best recon unit that even the demon hunters could not defend against.

It did not take long for the first signal, which sounded off on Street 34 to spread like wildfire throughout the Southern Suburbs. No one would have suspected a series of howling by stray dogs to be anything suspicious. After all, the area was rather deserted and bands of strays moved about their turf with impunity. Aside from the ‘Queen of Dogs’, no one understood what the series of howling actually meant.

At that time, Lily was lazing on the sofa watching a soppy love drama. Her tail brushed incessantly against the sofa (Hao Ren had to buy a hand-held vacuum to get rid of her shed fur). As the howling got nearer, she reacted almost immediately and leapt into the air. “Warning, something’s been sighted…” She crashed as spoke.

Vivian proffered her hand to the idiot who had fallen under the table. “Have a heart and spare Hao Ren some intact furniture will you? You found them?”

“Just off the fourth street, an area that’s about to be demolished. My buddies are gathering there now. There’s only one person,” Lily said animatedly as she got up. Her feelings of embarrassment were apparent. “Seems like they’re checking on the runic charms. Maybe they’ve already figured out that the rune cards are missing and decided to send someone to check. Alone, you know, alone!”

“And a good opportunity!” Vivian grinned as she deployed her wings. Her eyes turned crimson red. Y’zaks also got up as he cracked his knuckles. The great demon’s original form would be too obvious, and there were no good places for him to transform. Anyhow, it was not like he needed it anyway. Even in his human form, his combat strength was over 9000.

It had been no more than 10 minutes since Hao Ren came back, and Vivian was dithering on whether to wake him up or not. Hao Ren however, did not need anyone to call him. He came out of his room neatly dressed for the occasion.

“So, time for some action?” He asked eagerly.

Hao Ren was indeed eager, eager to put a stop to things. Since they were already targets of the demon hunters, a fight was only a matter of time, and Hao Ren would rather get it over sooner rather than later. The whole thing nibbled the back of his mind and he could not sleep at all. The moment he heard something outside, he immediately got out of bed and dressed up.

“Didn’t sleep?” Vivian asked with a faint surprise. “Weren’t you sleepy earlier?”

“I tried but couldn’t shut my eyes at all. I really envy that little fish. She fell asleep almost immediately. There are even bubbles coming out of her nose.” Hao Ren shrugged. “I heard everything. Shall we go?”

“Tip-top and ready to rumble!” Vivian said, her wings spread out wide. Her grin had the trace of a menacing queen. “It’s time for us to strike back. I’m feeling really good about today!”

“If you just need to say something, say it. What’s with that flashy pose? You’re getting my hair all messy.” Lily said as she got up.

All of them thought they were in pretty good shape all things considered. They were ready to depart before Nangong Wuyue appeared by their side and called out to them softly, “Wait up, let me join.”

Vivian gave the usually low-profile siren an odd look. “Aren’t your kind pacifists?”

“No, we are a peaceful but, that doesn’t mean we are pushovers.” Wuyue giggled as she caught up with them. “Don’t worry, I may be weaker than all of you but, demon hunters are nothing to me. Sides, unless I decide to kill myself, nothing can kill me. Let me follow to see what’s up.”

Vivian still had her doubts as she eyed Wuyue. She knew a few sirens in her lifetime (well, she did live for a long time) and this was a first for her; a siren joining the fray of her own volition. But seeing Wuyue so enthusiastic, she did not say anything more and simply nodded. “I know you are not afraid of death but, there’s a possibility that we may not be able to protect you. So, use whatever abilities you have to keep yourself safe.”

Hence, the crew headed out in high spirits. Hao Ren, who was at the back of the line made sure that the doors and gates were properly locked. As he turned to join the team, Lily took a jibe at him, “Why is it that most heroes I see in those TV dramas look so cool when they leave to fight but, we have someone who tied his shoe laces wrongly and forgot about the mobile phone. Our captain even turned around to make sure the house is locked… That’s so not cool…”

“Ain’t you the one who tied her shoelaces wrongly and forgot about her phone.” Vivian snorted. “I can’t remember how many times I told you to stop watching those pointless shows. You even almost pulled the curtain off to use it as a cloak…”

“I’m going out to hunt those demon hunters! Can’t I be excited about it?”

Hao Ren laughed aridly. “Most of the heroes who go out that way, go out for good. That’s why I stopped watching those shows… From the dialogue alone, I could tell who was going to die in the next episode.”

“Let’s stop. It’s not auspicious to talk about this now,” Wuyue quipped.

They chatted incessantly as they went yet, their speed was blindingly fast. As the neighbourhood was pretty much deserted, they cast off any reservations about being seen and moved at a speed that would have confounded a normal person. However, Vivian kept her wings hidden. She realized while demon hunters did not have particularly strong sense of awareness, their sense still far exceeded that of a normal human. Flying at high speeds in the air would have attracted unwanted attention.

Hao Ren on the other hand, rued the fact that he was not lucky enough to be carried in the air by a pretty lady that night.

The Southern Suburbs at night, was a very quiet place. Almost eerily quiet. There were not many people living there to start with. And at such an ungodly hour, you would not have seen anyone at all. The stretch of cemented street only had a few dim lamp posts to light its path. As it was already late autumn, only a few bugs hovered around the lamps. If Hao Ren was not in the deep of things, he would not have known such an unassuming place hid such an extraordinary secret.

With their enhanced speed, they crossed the length of a few streets in mere moments. Soon, they arrived at a place that was even more deserted that Baishi Road. This was the other end of the Southern Suburbs, and like Hao Ren’s place, it was a wasteland at the end of the road.

There were even less people in the area as most of them had already moved to the newly developed residential area closer to town.

The road was flanked by four lamp posts that flickered in dim, yellow light. All of the lamp posts had signs of wear and tear, and along them, a row of houses were marked in white paint for dismantling. Hao Ren remembered seeing the markings almost a year ago yet, the houses were still standing. He heard the developer for the area had went bankrupt and with it, the Southern Suburbs’ only redevelopment program.

Well, trying to build skyscrapers in the Southern Suburbs would have been the death of any property developer.

“It’s around this area. Stay close within my Cloaking Spell,” Vivian whispered, her long hair flowing in the night wind. About 50 meters from her, there was a veil of black mist. This mist did not affect the vision of those within it. Anyone outside the mist would have an unknown compulsion to look away. Such was the gift of the one, who was a nobility of the night; the power to control shadows and the darkness. Vivian had used this ability to fight off demon hunters in the past, and also steal chickens from werewolves when she was starving. That last part… let us just keep it to ourselves.

“This area looks so dilapidated…” Y’zaks frowned as he grumbled. His voice was as low as he could go.

“This reminds me of the ruins of Fyrkley back home… Legend says, it was a haunted city that fell from the human world into the cracks of the demon world, and the citizens, who were trapped all became wraiths… That’s how this place feels like right now.”

Hao Ren had nothing to add to Y’zaks very honest assessment of the area. “This is where I live. Please, spare it some dignity…”

“Shush, quiet. I’m looking for the patrol leader.” Lily signaled for the rest to keep quiet. She then took a deep breath and let out a signal for her hidden underling. “Woof!”

So, it was just “Woof!” after all…