The Record of Unusual Creatures

He had never expected things were so complicated, and everything seemed to pop out in one place. The ancient Ancattero family had lost contact with the outside world; the Shade of Chaos, which was once sealed by Vivian and other ancient otherworldlings, broke free from the containment; a group of demon hunters was unaccounted for after meeting with the Ancattero family; besides, the Solar Roulette and its characteristics had aroused Hao Ren’s interest too. This little-known, sleepy town in the human world had become the center of some maelstrom unconsciously, and the water was getting muddy.

It seemed no one knew what happened to this place a month ago.

“What’ve you got?” Hao Ren asked White Flame. “You come earlier than us. You should’ve found something.”

White Flame shook her head slightly. “Not much. What I know so far is Elder Amtura has indeed entered the mysterious realm of the Ancattero family, but no one knows what happened after that. I’ve answered many of your questions, now can you talk about the situation on the otherworldling’s side?”

“I want to make it clear that I’m not in the otherworldling camp, I’m neutral,” Hao Ren said, throwing his hands up in the air. “The Shade of Chaos has caused a lot of problems, many families and sanctuaries have been attacked, so the old fags are running around seeking for help desperately. Compared to the attention the Shade of Chaos is getting, the Ancattero family does seem like a stepchild; the old fags are dragging their feet in who should come to investigate. They all didn’t want to take the risk when they heard that the demon hunters were also joining the operation.”

White Flame sneered. “Oh, we, the demon hunters, have become the most concerned ones, while the compatriots of the Ancattero family are indifferent. How ironic that is!”

“What I find even more incredible is that a master of the demon hunter and an ancestor of the otherworldlings are sitting together in discussion,” Hao Ren said while pouting at White Flame and then Vivian. “In this case, coming face to face with the demon hunters will be inevitable. It’d be easier if there are only a few of us. The problem is that the Walter family is sending its people, and I’m sure many demon hunters at your side have no idea what’s going between us.”

“Hmm, most likely fight will break out,” White Flame said, nodding calmly. “If that happens, I couldn’t pull my punches then.”

Hao Ren thought for a moment, and a wacky idea came to mind. “Let’s try to avoid meeting each other. If worse comes to worst that when we bump into each other, we could put up a show. You and Hesse stay behind your team pretending to fight me while the rest of your team moves ahead. We could then create some smoke and fire just for showing how brutal the fight is,” Hao Ren said.

White Flame stared at Hao Ren: “Seriously?”

“Life is like a play, it all depends on your acting.” Hao Ren spread his hand. “Too many people from both sides, Vivian’s seniority may not be able to control the situation this time.”

“What a crappy idea!” Vivian snapped without even thinking. “How big is the Golden Manor, eh? How can we go in the same direction and yet not bump into each other? How can we stage a show to bluff everyone? You can’t be serious about that. What I think is, we’ll cross the bridge when we get there. Those who join this operation are mostly old foxes of at least several thousand years old, not the kind of hotheaded youngsters possessed by the killing instinct. Those old folks would be more cool-headed, I have confidence that they will not fight.”

Hao Ren and White Flame said in unison. “What if they did fight?”

“Then fight,” Vivian let out a chilly smile. “I would like to see how crazy the juniors today have become.”

Hao Ren nodded helplessly, feeling embarrassed as he exchanged a look with White Flame. Life is a drama.

“I should go now. The other demon hunters will worry about me if I stay out here for too long.” Feeling awkward in such a situation, White Flame got to her feet and left. “I will tell Hesse about today. The rest will be up to them,” she said.

Vivian nodded: “Well. You can also tell them a little about what I am doing here. I believe that the demon hunters of Hasse’s generation will know what to do.”

While White Flame summoned a silver flame ready to leave, something suddenly crossed Hao Ren’s mind. “Oh, if possible, could you tell me how and when you intend to enter the mysterious realm of Ancattero? Maybe we could stagger our times.”

White Flame let out a subtle smile. “Sorry, I can share any information but not this. Tonight’s meeting is purely a chance encounter, after which we are separate. Let’s see who will find the lead first.”

Then White Flame disappeared into the night in a sacred flame. Hao Ren froze for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Heck, things would be much easier if we could work together.”

“Who all know the drill, but who can do this besides us?” Vivian stood up and stretched. “When both parties are at war, they know that if they stop fighting, they will not have to die, but the war is not going to stop even if the commanders stop.”

Hao Ren agreed and forced a smile. “At least we’ve got serendipitous discovery this evening. Let’s go. We tell Lily and Y’zaks.”

The two left the abandoned house and headed straight back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel, Lily ran out of her room to greet Hao Ren and Vivian when she heard their footsteps on the second floor. The husky went around Hao Ren happily. “Mr. Landlord, where have you been? Checking out the surroundings all night?”

Before Hao Ren could say anything, Lily kept babbling, “That’s why I have been telling you that you should bring me instead of Battie out in an unfamiliar place. I have a good sense of direction, even if you get lost in Oxford, I could bring you home by smelling all the way back to Tianjin, but you didn’t listen to me. That’s why you got lost. Oh, by the way, I went out in the afternoon, and guess what, I stumbled upon a nice Chinese restaurant in the town! It’s rare to see a Chinese restaurant in such a small town. You know what, the food was half-baked weird: coke steamed-pork dumpling, anyone? I suspect they are also planning to roll out one with cheese stuffing! Anyway, it just wasn’t my taste. Y’zaks spent all day long with his daughter in the hotel. Did you see my cellphone charger, Mr. Landlord?”

Hao Ren did not get what Lily was talking about except one. “You’re looking for a cellphone charger?” Hao Ren asked.

Lily nodded happily. “Yes right, do you see my charger?”

“Didn’t you say ‘with Battie around, who needs a charger’? Hao Ren pointed at Vivian. “Ask her.”

“Oh, I almost forgot about that when Battie wasn’t around just now, “Lily said as she smacked herself on the forehead and then shoved the cell to Vivian. “Charge it!”

Reluctantly, Vivian summoned an electrically-charged little bat. The little bat sprawled on the cellphone and bit into the charging port and the phone screen lit up immediately, showing ‘Charging in progress.’

“I must be out of my mind to promise you such a thing.” Vivian was almost crying. “My lightning strike is for battle use.”

Only Lily could come out with such an idea.

“Just treat it as practice!” Lily’s arms akimbo, sounded happy. “You haven’t told me where you two went today, Mr. Landlord?”

Hao Ren looked up and saw Y’zaks had also come out of his room next door. “We went to the town to check things out and bump into White Flame.”

Lily did not recall the name. “What flame?”

“It’s White Flame!” Hao Ren flicked Lily on the head with his finger. “The demon hunter!”

Back in the room, Hao Ren told them what happened this evening. Y’zaks could not help but sigh. “What a surprise, it’s them. It looks like things are getting messy.”

Hao Ren sighed and turned to look at the darkness outside, mumbling to himself, “Messy?”

He got the intuition that things would be far more complicated than just messy.