The Record of Unusual Creature

Nangong Wuyue shouted and left everyone stunned on the spot.

Hao Ren looked at Nangong Wuyue and turned around to look at Nangong, the demon hunter. Now, he noticed the connection between their names. Bewildered, he stepped aside, watching the siren sister walk angrily to the demon hunter. He asked, “This is your brother?”

“This is my brother! My crazy brother!” Nangong Wuyue stepped forward, punched him in the chest and asked, “Bro, why are you doing this again!? Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“Can’t you see that I’m trying not to disturb you as much as possible…?” The demon hunter was hurt by the punch. He grimaced in pain and explained, “Besides, I’m worried about you… How did you meet these guys?”

Looking at the situation, Hao Ren knew that they were not getting into a fight today. He then waved at Y’zaks, and the big demon let go of Nangong and put him down. Vivian looked at the wonderful expression on everybody’s face. She was not sure if she should laugh or cry. Shortly after, she turned to Nangong and asked, “I just want to ask you, are you a human or demon hunter? Are you here to get us in trouble?”

“I…am considered a demon hunter.” Nangong looked at the non-human creatures strangely (unfortunately, Hao Ren was also considered one of the non-human creatures). He used to imagine what would happen if he was caught by unusual creatures one day but, he never thought it would be this way. “But…I didn’t know you guys were here… I’m actually looking for my sister.”

“Are you the one setting up spell cards on the streets?” Lily jumped out and shouted violently. “There are hundreds of them!”

“Yes, I’m the one,” Nangong said disconsolately. “It took me nearly two weeks to draw them, and then I spent another two days and two nights placing them around. However, I found them gone this evening… Did you guys get rid of them?”

Hao Ren suddenly felt a little pity for this guy. Such painstaking work and such a strict setting; it was all destroyed by the paparazzi of the Southern Suburbs. He was not really sure if he should tell this unlucky guy the truth. Vivian nodded thoughtfully and said, “I didn’t expect it to really be just one demon hunter… I wondered why no clues were found after searching outside for so long. Well, it’s really just you alone.”

“What else can I do. I’ve always been a loner.” Nangong spread his hands, looked at Nangong Wuyue timidly and asked, “Haha… Sis, so they’re harmless, huh?”

Nangong Wuyue turned her head and ignored him. Vivian was not angry. She smiled and said, “Hey, I never expected a demon hunter to say such words when facing a group of creatures. I’m really curious about what a freak you are… Come with us first. Let’s go home and clear up the situation. I won’t let you go easily even if you are Wuyue’s brother.”

“Don’t go, don’t go.” Nangong Wuyue quickly nodded.

“Well, I finally get to see my sister…”

Hao Ren slapped his forehead and wondered: That’s it! We were busy all night for nothing!

They came out in a mighty, ferocious manner but in the end, they went back embarrassed and speechless. Even Y’zaks looked awkward all the way. On the way back, only Lily, the simple-minded girl was feeling quite happy. To her, as long as she was not turned into stew by the demon hunter, tonight’s mission was considered a big success. The husky girl was walking in front of the team. One moment she ran around Hao Ren happily, the next moment she ran to the stray dog she met in the intersection, and they barked at each other for quite some time (she claimed that she arranged for her men to go back to rest). After that, she went into a some corner to pick a stone, and proceeded to play with it for quite a long time. Finally, when she carried a wooden stick and asked Hao Ren to play fetch with her, Vivian could no longer stand it. “Can’t you behave?! Usually, you kinda care about your image but, why are you so jumpy in front of the demon hunter today?”

Hao Ren sighed and relayed some information he found on the internet two days ago, “Huskies can occasionally be very excited when going out at night because, it’s quiet. They’ ll try to create noise to ‘entertain themselves’ especially, in the presence of strangers. It’s probably due to a desire to express herself. Lily, put the stick down. If you really want to play, I’ll buy you a frisbee in the next two days…” Lily then bitterly threw away the small stone and stick she picked up along the way. She tried to calm down, and pretended to be a quiet girl, muttering next to Hao Ren, “Stop complaining about me, Battie. You think I don’t know that you’re flying out every night. Nobody’ s more excited than you are at night… No matter what, I’m still a dignified worker…”

Hao Ren was speechless.

He knew that Vivian had a habit of going out for a spin at night but, he had no idea that she was so keen about it.

Vivian turned her face away in embarrassment and explained, “I’m just exercising. It’s to prevent my flying skills from being neglected due to the easy life.”

“Then you don’t have to harass the migratory birds. It doesn’t mean anything even if you win a competition with a bunch of swallows, okay?”

“…”

Forget it. Everyone had their own way of living. We should just let it be and stop digging any further. She has always been able fly anyway. So, let us just pretend that she was a fan of long-distance running among the vampires.

Nangong and his sister both walked behind them. Along the way, Nangong looked for opportunities to explain to his siren sister why he was there. However, Nangong Wuyue just ignored him. The brother and sister seemed to have some long unresolved conflict. Hao Ren was very curious about what happened to them but in the end, he was too shy to ask. It was almost midnight when they reached home but, what happened that night left them sleepless. Everybody circled around Nangong Wuyue and the demon hunter. Evidently, the brother and sister had no choice but to make it clear.

“As I said earlier, this is my brother.” Nangong Wuyue pointed to Nangong, the demon hunter. “My biological brother.”

“Hello everyone.” Nangong nodded timidly. He no longer looked dashing and confident like when they first met in England. He wiped his cold sweat away, pulled out a box of cigarettes from his pocket and said, “Sorry for disturbing… Want a smoke? Oh, you don’t smoke. How about this macho guy… You don’t smoke as well? And ladies… Forget it. I think I better explain the situation honestly. As you can see, I’m a demon hunter, and she’s a siren. Both of us are real. We inherited this from our parents. My father is a demon hunter but, my mother is a siren. I know it’s unbelievable. In historical records, there’s only one case of marriage between a demon hunter and a supernatural creature. Those are our parents.”

“Is that so…” Vivian looked at Nangong Wuyue in disbelief and asked, “You’ve really just mentioned that your mother’s a siren but, you’ve never mention anything about your father… He’s a demon hunter?”

Nangong Wuyue nodded, feeling ashamed. She then said, “Sorry, I knew this topic was too sensitive. I was afraid that you would mind so, I didn’t mention it.”

“How could this have happened?” Vivian finally exploded. “How could a demon hunter be together with a creature like us? Even if the siren is a special species, that’s not near enough a reason for the demon hunters to marry them!”

Nangong Wuyue sighed and said, “My mother’s flirting skills were superb.”

Everybody had nothing to say.

“Yes, majority of the sirens that stayed in the human world after they landed were coy with humans but, my mother was the only exception: she chased after a young demon hunter.” Nangong Wuyue covered her face with her hands and continued to explain, “When my mother was still alive, her favorite hobby was telling us the story about dad and her… Brother, I can’t continue anymore.”

Nangong coughed and looked at Nangong Wuyue awkwardly. However, when he saw that everybody was staring at him with curious eyes, he could only sum it up concisely. “It was a dark night; My mother was drunk, my father was young and ignorant… That’s the whole thing.”

The entire living room was silent. Hao Ren finally understood that the most powerful creature of all time was probably Nangong Wuyue’s legendary mother. During a precarious era, when most unusual creatures were being killed by demon hunters, when most of the sirens were coy with humans, her mother flirted with a demon hunter instead…

The brother and sister did not seem inclined to discuss the topic that had a high volume of information. They just roughly explained their parents’ situation and stopped there. Hao Ren had a lot of questions but, he did not know where to start. Finally, Vivian broke the ice. She looked at Nangong and asked, “Since we already know quite a lot, you don’t have to hide anything from us. What’s your full name? If you want to show your sincerity, start from here.”

However, Nangong was still unwilling to reveal his real name. He was hesitant, and refused to tell them more. In the end, after Nangong Wuyue pinched him, he sighed. He spread his hands and said, “My name is Nangong Sanba*.”

Translator’s Thoughts

Jillyboy Jillyboy

* ‘Sanba’ can mean bitchy or foolish depending on the context. In this case, it’s more likely to be foolish.