The Record of Unusual Creatures

Lorissa sounded so confident that Hao Ren calmed down from his shock. He looked at the mage empress clone with a serious face. “How did you know?”

“The Star of Creation is filled with divine energy, which is clear and perceptible even in illusions. The planet’s surface is a liquid ocean that reflects light with a special halo. It is very obvious when looking from space,” Lorissa explained. This is something Hao Ren did not know before. “The crimson moon in the illusion was completely different. I saw it twice in my prayer and was sure it did not have the divine energy unique to the Star of Creation. The crimson moon’s surface has strange shadows and lines, which are visually more like a solid surface. The crimson moon always hung above a dark and barren land in the illusion. It rose from the horizon, and its light illuminated the entire world. There was a sense of trepidation gripping my heart, which was the opposite of the peace and tranquility of watching the Star of Creation.”

Lorissa’s account had completely ruled out the other speculations. The phenomenon that Lorissa mentioned perfectly matched the crimson moon that Vivian summoned.

“What’s wrong?” Lorissa noticed the strange expression on Hao Ren’s face.

“No, nothing,” Hao Ren said as he shook his head. “Your information is vital, but I need more details about the religious life in the Ancient Magic Empire and every decree that the goddess of creation gave in her final few years.”

“No problem,” Lorissa said with a smile. “There is still time. I can tell you slowly.”

After the end of the long conversation, it was already late at night.

Most of the housemates had hit the sack. Even Rollie, who was the most restless at night, had fallen asleep. Lil Pea had almost dozed off in the basin not far away, leaving only Hao Ren and Lorissa still in the living hall.

While Hao Ren and Lorissa were talking, nobody came to disturb them. It seemed that there was an unspoken, tacit understanding between the landlord and the tenants that Hao Ren would tell them what they needed to know as and when it was necessary.

Hao Ren knew that Vivian was still awake, however. Vivian habitually tidied up her room at this time of night. After which, she would fly out of the windows to take a ‘stroll’ outside, checking around her ‘territory’ before coming back almost at dawn. Among the tenants, Vivian slept the least—three hours at most. Lily had been ridiculing Vivian’s century-long hibernation as a result of her lack of sleep and a prelude to her hibernation.

Hao Ren decided not to bother Vivian with the question of the crimson moon for now. After all, it was late at night; asking this question at this point in time would only cause more sleeplessness.

“Your room is upstairs,” Hao Ren said. “Vivian had arranged a room for you upstairs.”

It happened to be a vacant room as the Nangong couples had moved out recently. Their restaurant was seeing business picking up. So the couples had decided to rent a place to stay next to their restaurant.

“Then I shall disturb you for the next few days,” Lorissa said with a smile. She got to her feet and bowed slightly as a sign of respect. “Good night, Your Holiness Pope of the alien world.”

Hao Ren forced a smile. But he did not intend to correct Lorissa for calling him the strange title. After Lorissa disappeared up the stairs, Hao Ren returned to his room.

It was a quiet night.

When the first ray of the morning sun shone on the old roofs and streets of Southern Suburbs, the town began to wake up.

The morning was always a lively time in Hao Ren’s house. It always started with Rollie scratching the door of the bedroom of Hao Ren, who would scold her to high heaven. Sometimes, it was the howl of Lily in the living hall that woke everyone up in the house. Sometimes, it was the cry of Nangong Sanba when her sister rolled him up on her tail and spun him like a windmill in the air for crawling back in bed. Even if none of the above happened, there was always Noobie rising from the mouth hole and shooting energy bolts at everyone’s face with a “biubiubiu.”

At last, everyone would have to get out of bed.

Vivian had prepared breakfast. It worked to prevent the husky from screaming like a banshee when she was hungry. There was a large pot of hot cereal porridge and a bean paste buns on the dining table, which was the usual simple but delicious breakfast in the ‘Pope’s Palace.’ Lily sat cross-legged on the chair with chopsticks in one hand and a bowl of porridge in another. The chopsticks were skewered with three steamed buns. She gulped down the porridge in one go. Vivian, who was sitting across the table, frowned seeing Lily’s demeanor. “Mind your table manners, could you? You are a girl after all.”

Vivian had been a pauper all her life, but she still behaved like what an ancestor of the Blood Clan should be like. No matter how hungry Vivian was back then, she still insisted on dining with proper dining etiquette. Lily’s uncivilized manner was irking her.

But the husky could not care less. She had her own set of theories. “I have a high metabolism. If I were to eat following the manners of the vampires, I would have died from hungry within a few days. What is more, I have an appointment coming up soon.”

“What appointment could you have?” Vivian shot Lily a glance.

“Beanbag, who lives at the end of the street, gave shelter to a female dog that came from outside the town. They had since been living together and having children. But later, the bitch drove Beanbag out on the street and brought in her new boyfriend—a local dog—and occupied beanbag’s house. Now, Beanbag has to live on the street near the garbage dump, and gotten mocked by other dogs. He is depressed and losing his purpose in life. I have to give him some counseling and take a look at the little puppies.”

“Holy moly. Life among dogs is also that messy.” Nangong Sanba was stunned.

Vivian shook her head. What happened in Lily’s army of dogs was not surprising to her at all. Vivian had seen worse—nothing was more chaotic than what happened on Mount Olympus back then.

“Whatever happens, let us first finish the breakfast. And put down your leg. It took us a while to correct Rollie’s sitting posture, don’t show her bad example.” Vivian glanced at Lily. She then grabbed a slice of raw meat from a small plate that she had specially prepared and tossed it in a direction without even looking. “Noobie, breakfast!” she cried.

A shadow suddenly emerged from the corner of the house and launched into the air. It was Noobie—a mini version of Vivian. Noobie grabbed the meat in the air and crash-landed on the floor. But she was not upset. Noobie rolled the meat slice up and quickly scurried back into the mouse hole.

Hao Ren had been suspecting for some time that the little Malevolence was faking its madness. Just look at how smart she was at feeding time.

“You are skilled at feeding her now,” Hao Ren said before gulping down his remaining porridge. He then looked at the mouse hole where Noobie lived. “She seems to be like human too.”

“Not really. Noobie would go insane again once she is fed,” Vivian said. “Just like Doggie, Noobie will forget the hand that feeds her after the meal.”

Hearing what Vivian said, Lily put down her bowl and snorted, “Battie, mind your words! You should compare me with someone with a brain to be fair!”

Hao Ren hemmed and interrupted the two. “That is enough. Can you two not fight for a day? –Vivian, I have something to ask you.”

Vivian was just about to get up and clean the dishes. “What is it regarding?” she asked.

“About the crimson moon. Do you know what it is?”

“The crimson moon?” Vivian frowned. “Is this important?”

“It is very important.”

“Well, to tell the truth—I have no idea.” Vivian spread out her hand. “Most of the time, I only summoned the crimson moon when I was disoriented right before the hibernation. I did not even remember who I was at that time. I don’t summon the crimson moon while I am awake. It is an exhaustive and I could not even control my mind. So if it is not necessary, I will not use this ability.”

Hao Ren frowned. He had expected this answer. But he still pressed on. “Do you think the moon is real or just a projection?”

“How could it be real,” Vivian said. She could not help but laugh. “Do you think I can summon a celestial body?”

Hao Ren did not laugh. He said thoughtfully, “Even if it is just a projection, I am afraid that it is not that simple. Have you ever thought about where the crimson moon is located? Since it hangs in the sky, anyone can see it. Optically, it is ‘reachable.’ Whether it physically exist or otherwise, have you studied it?

Vivian sensed the seriousness in Hao Ren’s voice. She could not help but become somber. “I was curious; I once flew toward the crimson moon, but I no matter how hard I tried, I could not reach it.”

“Come on! Have you ever heard of the ‘carrot on a stick’ metaphor? The thing is a projection from you. When you move, it moves. How can you reach it?” Lily laughed.

“Do you think I have never thought of it? I sent a bat to the crimson moon while I was waiting on the ground. But it did not work.” Vivian glared at the husky.

“There are two explanations to it. One, the existence of the crimson moon is beyond our understanding. The light it emits may be discontinuous in space, not even based on the general law of space and time. So we can’t reach it. Two, it is as big as a real celestial body, located far in the orbit of the planet. Vivian can’t fly out of the atmosphere to reach it,” Hao Ren said.

Vivian looked at Hao Ren curiously. “You want—”

“I want to study the crimson moon that you summon,” Hao Ren said. “It would be best if I could go there to check it out.”