The Record of Unusual Creature

After returning from the temple, they gathered in Bonia’s yurt as they digested the newly acquired information and discussed their next exploration plan. Hessiana stood by Vivian’s side in boredom, toying with a small blood sphere in her hand. The ending of Baptiste’s incident was a total surprise, which had rendered a sense of powerlessness in her. She could think of nothing now but wait for Vivian’s further instruction.

Vivian had been fiddling with that blood-red crystal since the beginning, beating her brains out trying to make sense of it was all about. The crystal floating in her hand did not respond to her magic power nor blood sprinkling. As if a cold, ordinary, beautiful stone, it guarded the secrets tightly within itself.

“Still unable to recall who Beatrice was?” Hao Ren peered at Vivian. “No impression about this crystal?”

“You know how good my memory is, don’t you?” Vivian smiled and shook her head. “I forgot about Pavel for three hundred years. It looks like I have forgotten about Beatrice even more thoroughly. Though I know her name, I still don’t have a clue.”

“Maybe this is not her real name. Maybe Beatrice was just a nickname or something,” Kassandra said suddenly. “Witches and wizards often give themselves some ambiguous code names. They use code names to avoid devils from seeking revenge or avoiding demons from tracing them, but I heard that this method did not always work as the more powerful creatures from hell could find out their real identities.”

“Unfortunately, Beatrice is dead. Even if Y’zaks were here now, I’m afraid we would still be not able to find out the real name of the witch.” Hao Ren shook his head, knowing that Vivian did not help. If he could find out the real name of Beatrice, it might help Vivian recall the connection between the crystal and the witch. For now, he could only hope for the best.

“Sorry,” Vivian said as she looked at the others apologetically and then rubbed her forehead in embarrassment. “I have tried my best,” she said.

Lily, who was rarely sympathetic with Vivian, looked on. She patted on Vivian’s shoulder and said in a comforting voice. “It’s not your fault. After all, age has caught up with you.”

Vivian shot her a sideways look. “Get lost!”

Baring her fangs, Lily squatted and moved away as she muttered something in her mouth, “Oh heck! No good deed goes unpunished.”

“Another key question is what exactly the crystal is,” Nangong Sanba said as he fixed his eyes on the red crystal floating on Vivian’s palm. “You put a similar crystal with your manuscript and gave it to your servant before you hibernated. It shows the thing is significant, as important as your memory. Did you leave any clues behind?”

“I’ve even forgotten if I have left behind any clue. Even if there is, I wouldn’t know what.” Vivian let out a long sigh. “When you forgot what you forgot, what could you do? I can only sense that the energy in this crystal is much weaker than the one that Pavel kept. Perhaps it weakened after Beatrice drew magic power from it. I didn’t even recognize this was my crystallized blood at first.”

Lily looked up at Vivian, and whispered, “That’s why we should show more love for old, virgin bat…”

“No one would take you as a dumb if you keep your mouth shut!” Vivian snapped.

“Anyway, this crystal is the only clue to the summoning of the King of Blood,” Hao Ren said as he knocked on the table. “Baptiste was just an apprentice wizard when Beatrice disappeared. He couldn’t possibly study the summoning ritual of the King of Blood all by himself. It was even less probable to contain such a powerful evil spirit in his magic book. He must have inherited the skills from Beatrice. All his magic, ancient knowledge, and items relating to Vivian came from Beatrice. This crystal—”

Lily suddenly raised her hand. “If I were you, I would swallow it.”

“Do you think everyone is a husky? Taste it in the mouth?” Hao Ren squinted at the husky maiden whose brain was always ‘off-track.’ “Do you know what this crystal is?”

“Of course, I do,” said Lily, sounding unexpectedly serious. “You think I’m kidding? This crystal is made from Battie’s blood. Since it came from Battie; would it be a problem if she swallows it?”

Hao Ren was startled. Lily did have a point; only that he could not fathom why she must use the mouth. Did she think that eating was the panacea for all problems?

If was not known what was in Vivian’s mind but she suddenly put the crystal on her lips. “Maybe I should try.”

“Wait a second!” Hao Ren quickly stopped her. “Are you serious? You can’t be as crazy as Lily!”

“Well, it was my blood anyway,” said Vivian as she licked her lips. “Maybe by reabsorbing it, I could find out something, the memory about the making of the crystal. Don’t forget that the blood of Blood Clan stores information.”

Hessiana also nodded to confirm what Vivian had said. Hao Ren relented. As Vivian put the thin crystal into her mouth, he watched nervously. He could not help but ask, “Do you need some garlic?”

“This is a freaking blood crystal, not tofu!” Hessiana’s arm akimbo and glared at Hao Ren. She then turned to Vivian. “Anything?”

“Just a moment,” Vivian waved, gesturing her to be patient. “I am in the midst of absorbing it.”

She broke down the blood crystal back into its original form, absorbed it, and perceived the information contained wherein. Her facial expression kept changing between confusion and enlightenment. The formation of this blood crystal was much earlier than she expected. Fragment of memory from an era she had never expected rushed into her mind.

She saw her own life on the planet from a third party perspective. The vision flashed across her eyes, but she was able to recall more memories than the images she saw.

Vivian opened her eyes; a bloody glow flashed across her eyes and disappeared. Her energy broke out uncontrollably in a thousandth of a second. Hao Ren felt the power was coming after him as if he were prey. The illusion disappeared quickly, and Vivian came out from her trance. The first thing she did was look at Gezer. “What is beneath Dorasil?”

The survivors on the planet built the ancient city of Dorasil, known as the City of Rituals, after the end of the Sun Dynasty but before heaven closed. It was never inhabited, and only serving as a symbol in this world. Vivian’s question confused Gezer. “The sacred city? Something underground?”

“There is something — another city. Just beneath Dorasil,” Vivian said as she got to her feet. “Hurry up! We should get there quickly.”

“Wait a minute,” Hao Ren stopped Gezer, who was about to carry out the order. He looked at Vivian. “Must you go now? Could you wait until tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow?” Vivian was puzzled. “In that case…”

Hao Ren raised his finger and pointed at the sky outside the yurt. “It’s getting late now, and you need a rest, just as others do.”

Vivian calmed down from her stirred emotions. She now saw not only Lily was dozing off, but Nangong Wuyue had also curled up like a mosquito coil and slept. Nangong Sanba and Hessiana were not that serious, but they were all not in their best state.

“You are right. Let’s depart tomorrow. Sorry, I was just too excited,” said Vivian. As she calmed down, she let out a faint smile. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. The residual memory in the blood crystal stirred my emotion.”

Hao Ren nodded. He did not ask what she saw in the illusion. “Well, we will stay in Fire tribe for the night. Tomorrow, we will head straight to Wind tribe,” he said.

Vivian nodded subtly.