The Record of Unusual Creature

Vivian noticed Hao Ren observing the mural. She came up to it as well and asked, “It looks very strange, right?”

“What the heck is this painting?” Hao Ren knew that Vivian had inquired about information on the church when they were in Lamberg Town so, he turned to ask her.

Vivian shrugged and answered, “In their mind, this is the goddess.”

“… Their goddess looks like this?!”

“It’s abstract art, I think.” Vivian frowned and looked at the strange, grotesque picture. “Honestly, I also think they painted the goddess a little too ugly. Aren’t they afraid if the goddess sees herself being painted like this, she’ll flare up and destroy the world once again?”

Dumbfounded, Hao Ren looked at the “goddess”, painted in thick black and red pigment as well as phosphor powder at random. He was completely confused, wondering what the people of the Disciples of Glory were thinking. He wondered what the consequences would be if the followers of Raven 12345 were to draw her a portrait like this. They would probably be struck by lightning more than hundreds of times. At the same time, he admired the painters of the Disciples of Glory: It was a skill to draw such irregular things. It was a tough job for her followers to worship such an abstract goddess.

Vivian looked at the mural for a while and turned her eyes. She said, “You carry on, it’s so ugly that it’s giving me a headache.”

Who would not have a headache when looking at something like this? Hao Ren had also lost interest. He returned to the centre of the chapel and found that Lily had taken off her mask. She was now lying on the ground and sniffing around. Y’zaks drew some green runes in the air and examined the remnants of the nearby energy using a demonic method. Nangong Wuyue created a water ball in the air to let Lil Pea swim in it. Although this had nothing to do with the task, it was the most creative course of action. Who else had the leisure to come up with this trick?

However, there seemed to be no evidence in the chapel. Hao Ren had expected to find the energy fluctuations left behind by the teleportation portal unfortunately, there was nothing there. There was only one big pit, and an abstract picture of the goddess, which gave them a headache.

When Lil Pea saw Hao Ren pass by, she immediately jumped onto Hao Ren’s arm and continued hanging onto it like an armband. Hao Ren looked outside through a long, narrow window at the lower part of the church (it was a rectangular hole, not sure what it was for, but one could look outside through the hole). He replayed the scene of the Orb’s disappearance, as described by the noble knight, who was responsible for guarding the Orb that night.

There was an earthquake and a strange beam of light in the sky. The lake boiled and peculiar planktonic bioluminescence emerged across the lake.

Hao Ren decided to go to the bottom of the lake.

The Disciples of Glory had not sent anyone to search the bottom of the Blood Lake yet. On one hand, the lake was sacred and the holy remains of previous popes were said to be buried beneath the lake, so no one dared to extend their search to the bottom of the lake. On the other hand, the water of the Beinz Blood Lake was really odd. Ordinary people, even a highly skilled church knight, would quickly go unconscious and be infected with strange diseases after soaking in this water. The situation would get worse in line with the depth of the dive. Therefore, no one had checked the bottom of the lake so far.

Nevertheless, Hao Ren still decided to dive into the lake. He instinctively felt this to be a blind area of significant suspicion.

They could not go out through the front door because it was heavily guarded. Therefore, they were teleported directly back to the shore of the lake. Hao Ren revealed his idea to them, and Nangong Wuyue muttered, “You sure you want to go to the bottom? The lake water isn’t normal. What if there really are any infectious diseases in it?”

“Can’t you control the water? You can also cure all diseases,” Hao Ren said as he looked at Nangong Wuyue. “You’ve also purposely tested it. Isn’t the water of this Blood Lake nothing special to you?”

“I’ve heard that the deeper the Blood Lake, the more prominent its peculiar powers are in the water. The bottom of the lake is a restricted area, where no one has successfully set foot on,” Nangong Wuyue said, feeling a little bit insecure. “In case I start losing scales, you’ll have to take care of it.”

“Don’t worry. There is a real goddess behind me,” Hao Ren said, and he swung his arm. At the very moment he waved his arm, he felt something dropped from it. Something shiny jumped off his arm and then, he heard a splashing sound from the lake not far away.

Lil Pea had jumped off again!

Hao Ren had been bringing the little fellow out for several times, now she finally dropped her guard and began to be curious about everything. This time, the little kid saw such a big lake in front of her (although it was red), she immediately forgot about the panic-inducing scene where she was almost washed away by the river. She cheerfully jumped into the lake the moment Hao Ren swung his arm!

“OMG!” Hao Ren cried out. He rushed to the lake, only to see little flashes of bioluminescent activity appearing and disappearing across the lake’s surface under the moonlight. The little mermaid was nowhere to be seen.

Vivian was also anxious. “Quickly, get her out!”

Without anyone’s instruction, Nangong Wuyue jumped directly into the water. She transformed into her siren form the moment she entered the water. Then, she froze her clothes into a ball of ice and threw it ashore. She slapped her golden red tail and dived into the water. They waited anxiously by the shore for a while. Finally, they saw a pale red water ball floating out from the lake. Lil Pea was swimming merrily around the water in the water ball. The little kid seemed like she wanted to swim out of the water ball, but Nangong Wuyue controlled the flow so that the she could only swim around the center of it.

Nangong Wuyue emerged from the lake. She threw the little kid to Hao Ren and said, “Watch your daughter! Don’t let her get into trouble again.”

Hao Ren quickly hugged the little mermaid. The little mermaid wriggled restlessly in Hao Ren’s arms afterwhich, she spat out some water. She did not seem to like the salty water of the Blood Lake but other than that, there was nothing wrong.

Lil Pea looked just fine. Hao Ren nodded blankly and said, “It seems that the lake isn’t really a problem, at least for Lil Pea, it’s no problem…”

Nangong Wuyue jumped out of the water. Because she had to put on clothes when she transformed back into her human form, she remained in her siren form and staggered towards Hao Ren. She said, “Why does the kid like to look for trouble that will kill her? She has been asking for trouble since she was born.”

Hao Ren recalled things and found that it was really so: Lil Pea was hatched in boiling water, and the first thing she did after that was jump into a burning gas stove. She was interested in the kitchen knives and she liked to jump onto the ground out of nowhere when they were walking in the house to give them a fright. Finally, she even teased the cat very often—being a fish.

He immediately held Lil Pea tight and dared not let go. He should not have recalled his memory, as he discovered that this kid was constantly looking for trouble all the way!

At this time, Lil Pea lifted her head from Hao Ren’s arms and saw Nangong Wuyue in her siren form. The little kid was stunned instantly.

There were a lot of thoughts going on in her tiny, little brain. In the end, she got completely confused and jabbered loudly.

Hao Ren was startled by the sudden loud noise from the little kid and asked, “What is the kid saying?”

Nangong Wuyue was testing the water, preparing to let them go in. When she heard the noise, she touched Lil Pea’s forehead. The moment their minds were connected, she instantly jumped up and yelled, “What’s wrong with this kid’s brain?!”

This made Hao Ren even more curious. “What exactly did she say?”

Nangong Wuyue’s tail was flapping hard on the shore, and her face was all red. She put her hands on her waist and shouted at Lil Pea, “I am not your grandmother! I’m not your father’s mistress either. I can’t give birth to a pot! You won’t have a lid on your head when you grow up! Your father doesn’t have a flame under his body when he’s sleeping because he’s not a pot! The reason your mother doesn’t talk is because she’s made of iron! The reason why I don’t usually have a long tail is not because I don’t eat enough chopsticks! Your father not having a long tail is not because he’s conflicted with your mother! The pipes aren’t the gateway to your grandma’s house! There are three circles of violet gold patterns on my tail, but that has nothing to do with you. I’m a siren and you’re a mermaid! I can also transform into a shrimp, can you?”

Suddenly, all were silent. Hao Ren could have never expected there to be so many confusing yet, subtly connected questions in Lil Pea’s tiny brain. Even Y’zaks, who was always quiet asked, “What’s wrong with this kid’s brain?”

Lil Pea was bombarded by Wuyue’s lessons, and she was instantly frightened. However, soon, she jabbering in confusion even more. This time, Nangong Wuyue just ignored her. And Hao Ren, who was still confused could only hold on to his fish girl and comfort her. It took quite some time to calm her down.

The little kid basically ruined their task, which was supposed to be a very serious thing.