The Record of Unusual Creature

“I’ve found something.” Vivian snapped her fingers and a thin layer of fog started to form at a corner of the room. The fog quickly converged and transformed into bats, flying above and over Vivian’s shoulders.

For all the time spent with the two superwomen, Hao Ren had seen enough of their supernatural tricks; especially Lily’s doggy tail and Vivian’s pet bats. He played with one of the little bats, studying it and looking for differences from wild bats. “What did you find?” Hao Ren asked.

“Leave the bats alone. They’re duplicates of me. They share my senses,” Vivian warned Hao Ren as she smacked away his hand. “I sent the bats out to the castle ruins. Something is in there—the aura of wraiths, of hundreds of years… and lots of them too.”

A chill rushed down Hao Ren’s spine. Although he had been expecting his tenant to be a wraith, he could not help but shiver at the mention of the spooky thing. “Really? Lots of them? Raven 12345 told me there was only one tenant. Now what? Pick one?”

“Hold your horse, Hao Ren. The wraiths’ aura isn’t the same as the usual stuff we know of.” Vivian shook her head. “These ones are buried underground and were discovered only when the bats went into a caved-in underground tunnel. I found no entrance or specific source of the aura but, I’m sure the wraiths are still contained in a completely intact environment. So, we can deduce from here that there should be no spirits roaming freely on the surface.

Hao Ren quickly collected his thoughts and came to a conclusion. “If the ghosts were already contained and buried underground, there shouldn’t have been any movement in the castle. So, the sightings of paranormal activities…”

“There’s another possibility. If the wraiths’ power is strong enough, their aura could have been felt and seen by ordinary folks on the surface, causing hallucinations or even memory distortions. However, it’s been donkey’s years since such strong phenomenon last happened. I think the demon hunters would have cleaned up the place a long time ago.”

Hao Ren spread his hands in a self-deprecating gesture. “Why am I being dragged into this?”

But he noticed that the expression on Vivian’s face changed. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nangong is moving.” Vivivan frowned. “I have a bat hanging outside his window. I can see him prepping his gears… he’s gone out!”

“At this time of the night?” Hao Ren was slightly surprised. “This guy’s an eager beaver. He just got here! I think this demon hunter is really something.”

All the while, Hao Ren had not really taken Nangong seriously. Even if Nangong knew a thing or two about demon hunters, he could not have been anywhere near a pro (judging from his high-profile conduct). So, Hao Ren did not expect the guy to be so commited,. It was not a quality a charlatan would normally possess.

Vivian ran toward the windows without saying a word. She gestured Hao Ren to come over. “See? He’s coming out of the door. I wonder how he’s going to the castle. The castle is at least dozens of kilometers away; this dude isn’t a local and certainly doesn’t have a car. Moreover, no cab would ever want to go to that place at this time of the night. Does he know some kind of magic?”

Hao Ren and Vivian rested their hands on the ledge as they peeked out from behind the window. Nangong arrived and stood stiffly at the entrance of the lodge. Instead of a huge suitcase, Nangong was carrying a smaller one―black in color. He was in his customary white top and black pants, which the standard description of a salesperson. As Vivian had analyzed before, Nangong was not a local and he did not drive. How was he going to reach the castle dozens of kilometers away at that hour of the night?

“Demon hunters can move at a speed in excess of 100km/h and some can even perform short-distance flight as well as near-field teleportation.” Vivian frowned as she continued, “He’s making some weird hand gestures now. Does he really possess the power of magic?”

Hao Ren’s mind was running wild as he imagined the kind of tricks Nangong was going to pull off—Windwalking, Warg Possession, Ancestral Spirits and whatnot. He would not have been surprised at all if a magic circle had popped up out of nowhere. However, his jaw-dropped when a car pulled out from the garage behind the lodge. Angus, the fat owner of Angus’ Lodge was behind the wheel. As the car pulled up in front of the entrance, Nangong nodded at Angus. At the same time, an Indian guy in a full monk’s robe and a burly European in a Batman suit had walked out from the lodge, tailing Nangong into the car. Hao Ren could clearly see that they were chipping in for the fare…

Vivian said sheepishly, “Car-pooling… it seems like the lodge’s owner is branching out into the transportation business.”

“…I guess I’m just thinking too much.” Hao Ren thought.

It seemed that the ruins attracted strange people from all over the world. It was not clear why these international paranormal enthusiasts came out in flocks. Probably because they had been waiting for such a moment for a long time.

After Angus and the other demon hunters went on their way, Vivian nudged Hao Ren and said, “We’ll set off too. Tonight.”

Hao Ren was baffled. “Didn’t you say that we had to stay away from demon hunters, especially Nangong?”

“I just changed my mind. I’m afraid that if any of them find the new tenant before we do, we’ll be in trouble. I’m sure there will be more people like them coming. So, we can’t afford to wait for the rush to subside. It could take days or even months. And things will get even more unpredictable by then.”

Hao Ren thought Vivian had a point yet, he was a bit worried as he glanced at the bedroom door. “I’ve had enough sleep myself but Lily…she won’t rise from her sweet dream any time sooner than midnight. Are we still taking her along or not?”

Vivian checked her watch and said, “No worries, she’ll be awake in a while. She has a weird talent; she can run while still remaining asleep. She’ll be totally awake by the time we reach the castle.”

Hao Ren had no further concerns. He quickly followed Vivian into the room. Lily was tossing and turning in bed but she was still in her day clothes. Apparently, she was taken to bed by Vivian while she was asleep and Vivian did not care to help her change into her nightgown. Nevertheless. it saved Hao Ren the trouble.

Truth be told, Hao Ren was actually eagerly expecting to see the werewolf maiden donning a thin nightgown. But obviously, his wish was not granted.

“Look, the table leg.” Vivian pointed at the bedside table. Hao Ren immediately noticed something. One of the table legs had been gnawed in the middle. What was left behind was in the shape of a gourd. Chunks of wooden chips littered her bed and the floor beneath it. There was still a small piece jutting out the corner of Lily’s mouth.

Needless to say, Lily had had a dream about a bone feast.

“Hey, wake up big dog!” Vivian violently shook Lily out of her bed. She was jolted awake by the abrupt fall before hitting the floor. She opened her eyes and vaguely saw Hao Ren there. She asked, “Landlord, is it breakfast time?”

“No, it’s medicine time!” Vivian hauled Lily up. “Get ready. We’re going to the castle. Just follow us. We’ll explain everything when we get there.”

Still in her hypnagogic state, Lily mumbled in acknowledgment and fell into autopilot mode before uttering, “Landlord, I dreamed that you cooked some stewed ribs for me. It was finger-lickin’ good…”

Hao Ren remained silent.

Three of them left the lodge unnoticed under the guise of Vivian’s black fog. The lodge sat on the edge of the small town. Before long, they had already left the the town and entered the vast wilderness. Suddenly, something came to Hao Ren’s mind. “They have a car but what about us?”

All of a sudden, a huge pair of bat wings stretched open from Vivian’s and she took off with Hao Ren into the night sky. A broad smile was seen on her face. “We’ll take a flight. Let the big dog run!”