The Record of Unusual Creature

Whether he was a human, a landlord of unusual creatures or the executor of a goddess, Hao Ren could not have ignored the coming of The Day of Return. No matter what the truth was, it had the potential to disrupt the equilibrium on Earth. To stop it or not to stop it, he really did not know—he felt helpless to do so even if he wanted to. He wanted to know what The Day of Return was all about.

The most reliable source of information was the sirens. They were the ones who brought the news to the surface. But, these messengers had since returned to the bottom of the sea. Before the two elders left, they had also mentioned about the event: the last siren left the surface in 1976. Finding these messengers was mission-impossible. There may have been others like Nangong Wuyue’s mum, who discarded her mission but, no one knew where they were. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. Hao Ren had no intention of looking for them for the time being.

Diving to the bottom of the deep sea was very difficult. Even for a siren like Nangong Wuyue, getting close to the forbidden territory was impossible. To top it off, all the unusual creatures and demon hunters were watching the deep sea closely. Any rash movement could bring unnecessary trouble to himself. He needed more intel before he could think of going there.

For Hao Ren, there was one place where he could enter freely and get more intel—The Plane Of Dreams.

The Plane of Dreams may not have provided intel about The Day of Return but, at least, it gave him a better understanding of the unusual creatures on Earth. And, he may even be able to find another perspective to the problem if he was lucky. So, he was quite hopeful.

Hao Ren called for a meeting. Lil Pea hung from his arm and listened while he briefed everyone on his thoughts. He looked at Vivian. “Remember the papers I gave you after I came back from the foreign planet? Now, you can see it with your own eyes. You’re the only rune expert here.”

Hao Ren had jotted down the Letta runes he saw in The Plane of Dreams when he accidentally fell into it during his trip to bring Lil Pea back from the foreign planet. The runes were just normal runes for driving away evil spirits and runes for prayers according to Vivian’s interpretation. But, he felt there could possibly be more runes in The Plane of Dreams. Hence, bringing Vivian along into The Plane of Dreams could prove to be helpful.

Of all of them, Y’zaks was the only person from the other world. He was interested. He smiled. “I’ve heard that the unusual creatures on Earth came from The Plane of Dreams. I wish I could go there. But, is it possible to bring others along?”

“I’m thinking about this conundrum too.” Hao Ren looked down at his hands. “I’ve been entering and exiting The Plane of Dreams a few times with all my clothes and things in my hands. I guess, yes, I can bring things along. Just that, they must be worn, held or have skin-contact. The question is, would this method work on people…”

“All you’ve got is this after all your wild guess?” The MDT had not been talking for a long time. It felt it needed to show itself. “Don’t tell me you’re going to bring people there by ‘wearing’ them like you’re wearing your shirt?”

Nangong Wuyue was elated. “This is entirely possible. The last time, I wrapped him in my tail and it was fit as wearing clothes.”

“Knock it off.” Hao Ren waved his hand in embarrassment. He found his idea ridiculous too. He needed something better before he could bring anyone in there. “MDT, you got any idea?”

“I’m looking into the database. There is some information about The Plane of Dreams in the shared data vault of local universes…”The MDT rambled. “Err, no info about group trips. It’s all solo trips.”

“Why don’t you talk to the goddess?” said Y’zaks in his low voice. “Experience tells me that there are certain risks involved when you engage in projection-like travel to the other world. A slight error can throw people off course. I knew a guy who wore a mithril bracelet and traveled to the human world. He ended up in Pope City and died a painful death.”

Cold sweat trickled down Hao Ren’s back like ice water. He picked the MDT up and got ready to teleport. “I’m seeing Raven 12345 now.”

He got to his feet and before he managed to activate the teleportation, Vivian suddenly pointed at his arm. “Maybe you should put down the ‘bracelet’.”

Hao Ren looked down and Lil Pea’s body was wrapped around his arm like a bandage. She looked up at her dad and their eyes met. She then made a series of sounds before she swished her tail happily. She was simply happy, for no reason. She was either happy or really happy the entire day.

Like a bracelet as Y’zaks mentioned, the little mermaid probably would not interfere with the teleportation but, Hao Ren still pulled her off his arm. “Stay home. You’re too small for me to find if I lose you.”

The little mermaid was dropped on the table. She staggered around but did not cling on to Hao Ren again. Nangong Wuyue had found a chopstick and she used it to divert Lil Pea’s attention so that Hao Ren could activate his teleportation.

In a twist of light and shadow, he was already at the mansion and engulfed by a thick fog.

The sky was cloudy.

“What the hell?” Hao Ren looked up. He had never seen such bad weather at Raven 12345’s place. As the goddess’ residence, the place should have always been filled with light and warmth but, at that time it was gloomy with clouds everywhere. The place was blanketed with grey and black fog as if the building was submerged in a stormy ocean, a lonely island in the midst of a raging sea. The surrounding felt depressing as well as appalling.

Then, there was a crack!

The loud sound almost scared the hell out of him. He saw purple lightning strike across the sky from the southeast like a giant python. Even the cloud was rippled by it.

A chilly wind swept across the garden. Hao Ren pulled his clothes tight to his body. He was a little surprised: what happened to the goddess’ residence?

No one in the garden could tell him what was going on. The arcane servants were nowhere to be found. He pulled up to the front and stood at the door. At least the door looked normal. It swung open silently and a light-filled corridor was exposed.

He felt a sudden relief as he stepped through the entrance which shielded him from the bad weather outside. Inside the mansion, everything was just like the day before—serene. Yet, he could still see the weather outside through the glass wall—a dark cloud was engulfing the mansion and it seemed like it would not be going away anytime soon.

A strange electrical hum was heard several meters away. Balls of blue light quickly converged into a tall, human figure. The human-like figure nodded to Hao Ren. He felt relieved: it was Big Bluey. It looked the same as always.

“I’ve come for Raven 12345,” said Hao Ren.

Big Bluey was taciturn as usual. He just kept nodding and then led Hao Ren to Raven’s office.

As the office door was pushed open, Hao Ren saw a woman with long, silver hair. Her back was facing him. She was standing and looking out through the glass window. Big Bluey then whistled and slowly faded into the air. As usual, Hao Ren walked into the office like he always did and ushered himself into the familiar chair. “Hi, I was wondering about what’s happening outside, all the dark clouds and lightning.”

Raven wheeled round and glanced at Hao Ren curiously. “You’re Hao Ren? The interesting assistant 12345 has been talking about?”

Hao Ren was clueless.