The Record of Unusual Creatures

Vivian was like a virtuous housewife while at home. But in the outside world, she was notorious. A few people, including Hao Ren, knew that Vivian had been acting gracelessly: she liked to bully her juniors. That was exactly what happened today but for a good reason—she made those family representatives realize the solemnness of the matter at hand, and that the Countess of the Crimson Moon was serious.

After Vivian finished, Hao Ren got to his feet, cleared his throat, and then slowly delivered his speech like a headmaster at a convocation. “I would like to add a few points. First of all, maybe you don’t understand the significance of the event. After all, it appears as if it comes out of nowhere all of a sudden. But we have been planning for it for some time. You may recall the prophecy of the Day of Return two years ago. Many supernatural races on Earth were involved. Part of the Day of Return is true, that is, all otherworldlings on Earth come from another world, where your civilizations, legacy, origin, and ancestors are. Unlike the Day of Return, returning to that world will not bring you power and wealth but the knowledge of where you come from and the origin of your history. For a civilization and race, these things are more precious than power. I have compiled the formal document, which details all you need to know—except the absolutely top secrets—about the Plane of Dreams. Every one of you will receive a copy of it after the meeting, and I’m sure you will know what to do after reading it. Speaker Mimir, do you have anything to add?”

“I’ve nothing to add. It’s time to reveal more, and I trust your judgment.” A low voice came from the head of Mimir.

Hao Ren nodded solemnly and said nothing more. He just looked at the high-ranking Shadow Council members.

Some of the members of the council looked clueless, while some others were in thoughts.

But not all otherworldlings were ignorant about the Plane of Dreams. The impact of the incident was wide-ranging, and Hao Ren had also connived—by design or accident—the release of information about the origin of the otherworldlings in some families. But what was circulated was not detailed enough—Hao Ren had been controlling how much the otherworldlings needed to know in a way that was stricter than he did to the demon hunters. The demon hunters were different in that they were highly organized, more willing to keep secrets, and principled. For these reasons, Hao Ren was ready to reveal more. But the otherworldlings, just like what Vivian had said before, lacked unity. Even with the establishment of the federation, the Shadow Council, these guys were only a heap of loose sand. Naturally, Hao Ren did not reveal too much too soon the shocking details to them.

But now it had come to the time to let the otherworldlings know part of the truth about the Plane of Dreams.

After the meeting, only a few familiar figures stayed back in the conference hall. They included the skull of Mimir, Zeon Locus, Hesperides, and of course, Hessiana, who shamelessly insisted on staying. Up until now, Vivian had kept her at bay with 360 counts of Lightning Strike. But it looked Hessiana showed no signs of giving up.

“This is embarrassing.” The skull of Mimir said gently. “The Shadow Council has completed its integration and achieved a number consensus, but it’s not united. It seems that I’m powerless as a speaker.”

“I know. I just taught those little guys some lessons today lest they forget what it is like being whacked by their patriarchs.” Vivian said. “The Shadow Council and the demon hunters are characteristically different. I know, this does not mean that the Shadow Council members are stupid compared to the demon hunters. As an organization formed by various hostile races, it has rightly become what it should be today. It’s just a little regrettable that almost no one has thought about the meaning of searching for the root of their civilization. They are indifferent to their homeworld. Even the prophecy of the “Day of Return is just about power and wealth to them.”

“For the races that have grown up on Earth and lost their heritage, the homeworld is only an abstract word, an unfamiliar and dangerous alien world,” Hesperides said. “But if to say that they are ‘indifferent’ is not entirely correct. As far as I know, many people are interested in the ‘land of origin’ in the legend. Using the Chinese saying, these people have the concept of ‘seeking their roots.’ It’s a shame that the legacy of the otherworldlings has been completely destroyed in the Mythological War. When we first arrived in this world, we did not become an independent civilization, and the loss of legacy had even left most of the otherworldlings clueless about what racial identity was all about. How could the survivors, scattered and disunited, could carry the concept of race and history? It’s better to talk about sightseeing than telling them about the root of civilization.”

“That’s why the operation name ‘family-visit’ makes much more sense.”

As soon as Hao Ren finished, all eyes were on him.

Hao Ren quickly waved his hand. “Well, well, just pretend I didn’t say it.”

“Perhaps there will be some changes when they see the Plane of Dreams in person,” Zeon Lucas said. There was always the nobility-styled smile on his face. “I’m curious about that place too. I never thought that I could see it one day. All the while, I knew Countess, and you were working on something big. And it seems that it is indeed something beyond imagination.”

“Wow, how rare it is for the stubborn fellow of the Lucas family to be so polite!” Hessiana said. After Vivian struck her away for the fourth time with her Lightning Strick, Hessiana stubbornly bounced back. While at it, she had not forgotten to roll her eyes at Zeon Lucas. “Her Excellency Vivian Ancestor has always been that awesome. She is not someone to whom you could compare yourself.”

Zeon Lucas shrugged with a smile and did not respond to Hessiana’s provocation. Instead, he turned to Hao Ren and said solemnly, “I’m looking forward to visiting the Plane of Dreams.”

Hao Ren smiled and nodded. And then he looked at the skull of Mimir. “You can look forward to meeting your compatriot too. Muru would be very happy to see you.”

Mimir looked surprised. “Are you sure I can cross the Wall of Reality? Have you solved the problem of information overload of the demigod carrying?”

“The gateway in the Scarred Nebula is not what you could imagine,” Hao Ren said. “It’s not as simple and trivial as for the use of a sightseeing tour group. It can allow a demigod like you to return to the Plane of Dreams momentarily. That’s not all. The gateway will gradually grow, and as it matches the Wall of Reality more, it would be able to accommodate a large volume of information.”

“Are you telling me you want to use it to cancel off the Wall of Reality?” Mimir looked at Hao Ren suspiciously. “You want the two universes to stay together in this way?”

“Of course not. Such a grand undertaking is not something that a portal could accomplish.” Hao Ren shook his head. “You will know when you get there.”

After everyone had dispersed, Hessiana was still there. After failing to chase her away many times, Vivian gave up and just ignored this sticky bat. Hessiana had also calmed down from her excitement of seeing her ‘maternal body.’ Now, she was looking at Hao Ren with a strange look on her face.

“What? Is there something on my face?” Hao Ren had goosebumps all over his skin because of the stare.

“I feel that you have something to hide,” Hessiana said. Her eyes hopped between Hao Ren and Vivian several times before looking away. “But I want to talk about something else. Your Excellency Vivian, did you design me a dreaming function when you first invented me?”

“Inventing you?” Vivian was dumbstruck. “Oh, wait a minute. Did you say you dreamed?”

After a brutal battle with Lockmarton, who was good at the manipulation of the mind and dream in the Plane of Dreams, and also knowing that Hao Ren had had many illusions and dreams about the Plane of Dreams, Vivian had been paranoid about the word ‘dream.’

“Maybe it was a dream,” Hessiana scratched her face. “I have never dreamed before, so I don’t understand what it is. But I’m sure I saw things when I was asleep.”

“What have you dreamed of?”

“Some chaotic scene,” Hessiana frowned. “Sometimes it was about the fighting in the battlefield, sometimes about strangers wearing ancient-era costumes walking around, sometimes about the otherworldlings flying in the sky openly with human offering sacrifices on the altars. It looks like the early scenes of the Mythological Era that you have told to me. Ahh, the scenes were all gray in the dream.”

“The ancients, the rituals, the war…” Vivian whispered. “It sounds like the scenes are all in the ancient setting. Some of the events happened before you were even born. How did you dream about those things?”

“I have no idea.” Hessiana said, “That’s why I asked.”

She sounded like a teenage girl talking to mommy after her teenage confusion.

High up in the divine realm, in the Malevolence storage area, Raven 123455 was gazing intently at the Malevolences, which continued to release energy waves. It seemed like they would wake up at any moment.

“Resonance is becoming more frequent,” Raven 12345 mumbled to herself. “Which aspect will change?”