The Record of Unusual Creatures

Ever since Rollie nommed on the golden apple and turned into a dumb lass, Hao Ren had forever been wary of the year-end bonus he would receive. He knew that anything connected to the gods was definitely not something “normal”, regardless if it was a mere fruit plucked from the celestial farms, or crockeries. However, he never thought that the kitchenware he had randomly picked for Vivian would be so incredible. Not to say that the dishes would have tasted any different, but anything made using the kitchenware was imbued with multitudes of magical properties!

A few days ago when Vivian first used the new kitchenware set to make dinner, she received an ungodly shock of her life. A simple dish of stir-fried garlic pork started to shoot out golden light as it was almost done, and by the time it was ready, the holy light had shot up toward the ceiling. Hao Ren’s jaw almost dropped to the floor once he saw it, and he recalled the various anime scenes that he saw years ago. Vivian was also stupefied by what she saw, that she managed to cook up phantasmagorical effects from a simple dish…

Therefore, the blessed dishes on the dining table were all imbued by the starite kitchenware…

“Is it really okay to eat this?” Liu Sheng asked gingerly as he used his chopsticks to point at the shining pork dish with wood ear fungus. “Not that I’m doubting the Countess’ cooking skills. I’m more concerned that my body may not be able to take it…”

“No worries, it’s only the special effects that are impressive. It’ll still taste the same,” Hao Ren quipped casually. “This was my new year’s gift and you know how my superiors roll… They just love to come up with slightly weird stuff.”

As he spoke, Hao Ren pulled out a cat dish from the side and placed a few dishes into it. He then pulled out a packet of cat feed from his Dimensional Pocket and filled up the bowl. After a few strong stirs, he placed the bowl before Rollie. Rollie looked down to sniff the food and just before she could bury her face into the bowl, Hao Ren smacked her on the head with his chopsticks. “Hands?”

Rollie looked up as she meowed defeatedly, before sticking her chopsticks into the food bowl. The dumb cat had already learned how to use them, but she still wanted to use that method as a protest.

Until today, Hao Ren still had to prepare Rollie’s food. It was not that he was biased toward the dumb cat or that the latter lacked the sense to manage it, but rather Rollie had gotten used to it. In her daily routine, as long as Hao Ren was home, she would only eat if Hao Ren fed her. And by some bizarre logic, the cat girl was rather reliant on her master.

Of course, whether the proud feline actually saw Hao Ren as her “master” was another thing altogether.

Liu Sheng guffawed at the scene, which unfolded right in front of him. Once Hao Ren caught it, he quickly explained, “I’m not abusing her. She just loves this. She’ll bite if I don’t give her cat feed, and her food’s actually much more expensive than my snacks.”

Liu Sheng pondered for a bit and said nothing. He simply looked down and continued to eat, deciding not to peer further into the lifestyle of the otherworldlings.

It was not an understatement to say that these otherworldlings would be out of place amongst their own kin!

This was probably the most stressful dinner Liu Sheng had ever eaten. Even the delicious meal could not distract him from the culture shock, which was dropped upon him by the tenants of the house. He had witnessed the daily routine of the most ancient vampire and realized that she was not as difficult to get along with. He had also revised his view of Lily and still found it hard to believe that she was the First Sage. Then there was the leader of the 100,000-strong demonic host being a dad to his daughter. However, the most stressful part was the foot-long little mermaid. Lil Pea was bouncing about on the dinner table while the rest were eating. The little rascal had already eaten and was taking her habitual after-meal bounce (most people have their after-meal walk, hers was bouncing). Liu Sheng almost poked the little one on the head on multiple occasions, and he had to stay alert to dodge the little rascal’s bounce path…

Additionally, he did not understand why the little mermaid kept coming towards his chopsticks, many, many times.

Compared to Liu Sheng, Hao Ren’s family enjoyed their meal throughout. Lily ate to the point where she was laying down by the time she finished. The husky immediately planted herself on the sofa the moment she was done. Without a care for her image, she started boasting, “When I led the demon hunters years ago, I was such a benevolent genius. Can you imagine how hard it is to live in the tundra? Even keeping everyone fed was a big headache. See how difficult…”

Vivian whispered to Hao Ren, “Look at her running her mouth like she actually remembers what happened at that time.”

Liu Sheng looked at his watch before he turned toward Hao Ren and the rest. “About Zhao Xi…”

Hao Ren grabbed the MDT and had a look before getting up. “Let’s go. Whether she can be healed or not depends on this.”

The whole household went to the basement, and the sleeping pod that Zhao Xi was in had just completed its cycle. As the group arrived, they heard a crisp *Ding!* from the equipment. Liu Sheng found the sound eerily similar to the microwave he had back home…

The sleeping pod’s cover slid open without a sound and Hao Ren peered into the pod. Zhao Xi was lying there with her eyes closed. Her face had a healthy red glow and her breathing was normal like a healthy person.”

But he knew Zhao Xi’s problem was on the spiritual and mental level, and her physical health did not tell the whole story.

The MDT docked itself at the sleeping pod’s record terminal and started to read the logs recorded from Zhao Xi’s spiritual vibrations, hoping to find some sort of trail to separate the mysterious “mental symbiote”. Meanwhile, Hao Ren and the rest stood by with bated breath as they waited for the outcome a little nervously.

A glow flashed across the MDT’s surface before it fell to the ground with a clack.

Hao Ren was maintaining a spiritual link with the MDT, and in that very moment, he felt a very powerful and unfathomable will traveling through the link toward him. His inspector mental barriers immediately activated and blocked the foreign will. Nonetheless, he was still scared out of his wits by this sudden surge, and cold sweat immediately formed on his forehead!

When the MDT fell to the ground, no one knew what happened, while Hao Ren’s reaction was slowed by the sudden mental shock. He quickly recovered and grabbed his dead PDA. At the same time, Zhao Xi who was in a vegetative state suddenly rose from the sleeping pod.

Her eyes were lucid, unlike the dour look she had before, but that did not mean she had recovered her senses. Her eyes were looking in a particular direction before a powerful and domineering aura surged from her body. Liu Sheng, who was the closest to her was almost driven to his knees by the aura, and even the usually slow Lily was immediately alarmed by it!

“I forgive all the wrongs my children have done,” Zhao Xi suddenly spoke, but another female voice intermingled with hers. “My amnesty is eternally theirs”

The moment that simple line left Zhao Xi’s mouth, every light bulb in the basement suddenly exploded as the electrical wiring burned out in a shower of sparks. All the glassware in the room cracked and shattered as if being hit by an invisible hand. The immensely powerful energy surge even appeared as visible lightning, jumping all over the room. The entire group was thrown into confusion by the unnatural phenomenon. Lily immediately scampered under Vivian’s bed, with only her tail sticking out as she whimpered loudly. Nangong Wuyue immediately curled into a ball at the corner of the room while countless of demonic runes appeared on Y’zaks’ body. It looked like an out-of-control transformation!

However, it all disappeared in an instant as Hao Ren instinctively blocked Zhao Xi. A veil of light appeared on his body and canceled out the power of her “words”.

“Emperor on a pogo stick…” The MDT seemingly came back to life as it bounced into the air. Sparks were still crackling all over its frame. A self-diagnostic voice came from its body. “That scared me so much that I rebooted…”

“I…” Zhao Xi had also recovered her senses by then, and it appeared to be a complete recovery. She looked around in confusion. “Where am I?”

Hao Ren immediately stopped her. “Don’t ask! I’m more confused than you are! Let me get my bearings.”

A giant question mark appeared on Zhao Xi’s head.

“Let’s clean up first… Can someone conjure some light? Lily, get out from the damn bed. Aren’t you ashamed? Get your Flame-effing-joy out!” Hao Ren shook his head as he tried to get the buzzing noise in his head out before he threw out commands and calmed the rest down. The sudden unnatural phenomenon had thrown the entire basement into a mess, and worse still, the entire circuitry was burnt. The room was pitch black. “Calm down, calm down. I think I know what happened. Sanba, go uncoil your sister… Those with nothing else to do, go upstairs! Don’t clutter the place!”

Every one of them in the house was a grizzled veteran by now, and all soon recovered from their stupor. The Nangongs quickly led Liu Sheng and Zhao Xi out of the basement while Y’zaks and Y’lisabet ran out to check the circuitry. Vivian frowned as she looked at the mess in her room before she asked Hao Ren in a hushed tone, “What was that?”

“If I’m not wrong… that was a fragment of the goddess of creation’s psyche,” Hao Ren said as he wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead.