The Record of Unusual Creatures

Vivian looked up at Hao Ren, and this time, she no longer saw him as a stranger.

Hao Ren knew that he had made the right guess; the medium to waking Vivian up was none other than his house key.

The key represented the only place where Vivian could find peace and shelter in tens of thousands of years.

The key meant so much to Vivian that even though she had plunged into the memory whirlpool and misplaced space and time, she brought the key with her. The oxidization on the key was likely the result of space and time distortion. So, Vivian was not entirely unresponsive right before she fell into the memory whirlpool. She had seconds to grab something that could wake her up, and she chose to hold on tightly to the house key.

“You’re ‘asleep.’” Hao Ren looked into Vivian’s eyes. They had only been separated for less than two days, but he felt as if they had not seen each other for years. “All your Malevolences resonated with each other, causing the historical information in your soul to overflow and contaminate the real world.”

The sound of the wind outside the hunter’s cabin gradually subsided. The snowstorm, which seemed to be swallowing the entire world finally died down. It appeared that when the master of that space and time awakened, some violent, distorted force began to disappear and retreat into the darkness. In the quiet wooden cabin, Hao Ren spoke of all that happened in the outside world and the truth he knew.

Vivian may have found it hard to believe, but Hao Ren had to tell her everything. Only by doing so could Vivian quickly regain her self-awareness and escape the dream. Then he could proceed to the next leg of his retrospective journey.

Hao Ren looked at Vivian and knew that she was not really awake. She might have looked like she had regained her memory, but she was still sitting there. It meant that she had not gotten rid of the misplaced space and time. He needed to work harder.

“My sleep has caused the whole earth to fall into this twisted space and time?” Vivian listened silently to Hao Ren, her face slowly went from disbelief to a more relaxed expression. She knew that Hao Ren would never deceive her, so she chose to believe his unbelievable story. “And I’m a Malevolence—the biggest ever?”

“I know it sounds hard to believe.” Hao Ren was mindful of the words he used. “But not all Malevolences are bad. There are those who are harmless. Have you forgotten about Noobie? Isn’t she cute? And you’re even safer than her. After all, you’re just poor.”

“You know you’re not good at comforting people. I would prefer you to remain silent.” Vivian sighed.

Hao Ren was a little embarrassed.

“You don’t have to comfort me.” Vivian noticed the expression on Hao Ren’s face and suddenly burst into a smile. “I’m not as fragile as you think. In fact, I’ve sort of previously guessed what happened to myself.”

Hao Ren was wide-eyed. “You mean you already know that you’re a—”

Vivian nodded lightly. “I’ve had a hunch before. Our trip to the ancient city of Ertos further confirmed my suspicion. From the very beginning, I’ve already felt like there was more to the splitting of the Malevolence than met the eye. With the never-ending splitting and so many splits of negative energy, how can I be completely ‘clean’? The contaminant is in my body, and I am the source of the contamination. I’ve prepared for this for a long time.”

“Then you—”

“I will not be beaten by this difficulty. I will not give in to the contaminant in my body. Whether it is from the Mad Lord or any other mastermind, I will be in control of my own will, and no one is allowed to interfere with it,” Vivian said faintly. “Did this memory vortex trap me here? Quite the contrary; I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. I would like the shadow hidden in me to know that it is I who has trapped it, not the other way round.”

As Vivian’s voice trailed off, the atmosphere outside the hunter’s cabin was utterly silent. It was as if the house was floating in an empty universe. Hao Ren looked around and found that the colors in their surroundings were fading before everything stood still. The sizzling fire in the fire pit turned into a gray, static block. The dry meat hanging from the wooden wall turned into black silhouettes, and Lily, who was stirring the pot next to the fire pit, was still. It was as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Vivian’s body gradually became illusory, and Hao Ren could almost see the wooden wall through her. She was waking up and leaving the dream world.

“I should go.” Vivian looked at Hao Ren. “I can feel this space and time rejecting me now. If I’m not wrong, I will go to a deeper part of this distorted space and time, ahead of you. There, a battle has been raging on for 10,000 years. Two parts of my soul are fighting there, and I’m waiting for the final battle. Hao Ren, every time hibernated, a part of my force was left behind in that fragment of history. You have to go back in time and help me send these forces to the deepest part of the battlefield.”

Vivian faded rapidly, and before long, all was left of her was a vague figure. She sped up her speech, as she wanted to make things clear before she disappeared entirely. “Be careful of those Malevolences. They exist in the same space and time as I do. You have a fifty-fifty chance of bumping into them in the places where I hibernate. The Barbaric Era is full of danger, many things are out of your control. You may meet the Hessiana of the past. She isn’t bad in nature; earn her trust. She likes novel inventions by humans, strawberries, and honey—”

Vivian completely vanished into thin air, only her faint voice still reverberated in the air.

“Hao Ren, take care of yourself. I’ll wait for you in the next era—”

It was a brief and hurried reunion.

Hao Ren got to his feet. Without saying a word, he tidied his clothes, which had wrinkled up. The snow on his collar and shoulders had already melted. The slight dampness and coldness made him more awake and calm.

Despite the short meeting, Hao Ren did not feel sad. He had successfully awakened Vivian once, which meant he was on the right track. The first step was always the hardest, but once he got the ball rolling, things would become smoother.

All he needed to do was wake the Vivian of each era from the beginning until the end of 10,000 years.

Hao Ren looked at the black and white hunter’s cabin. After Vivian left, the house did not collapse or disappear, but there was a faint light outside the door. Hao Ren had probably figured out what he should do next. He did not leave the place at once but remained there to sort out the information he had heard from Vivian.

As the creator of that distorted space and time, Vivian knew more about the world.

She mentioned that there was a battle in the deep vortex, and that battle was still ongoing.

Vivian also mentioned that she was scattered in that distorted structure of space and time, that every fragment of space and time contained a part of her power.

Hao Ren had to wake Vivian up in each fragment of history. Every awakening would send a part of Vivian’s power to the battlefield and empower her in the deepest part of space and time.

These returned powers would determine the winner of the battle. They would also decide whether the one to return to the real world was the divine avatar or the almighty Malevolence.

They were situations that Raven 12345 had not anticipated. Hao Ren felt really damn lucky to be able to get a hold of such information first hand.

After Hao Ren sorted things out in his mind, he strode to the door.

“Aah! Mr. Landlord, how did I end up here?” Lily’s loud voice suddenly rang behind him.

Hao Ren almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around with a loud crack and almost sprained his neck.

Lily was standing not far behind him, still wearing the tattered leather jacket of her in Siberia with a long handle spoon used to stir the cauldron. She looked exactly like the “older version” of Lily.

However, Hao Ren was dead sure that this was not the “old version” judging from how she called him “Mr. Landlord.”

“Lily?” Hao Ren looked at the husky maiden for a long time as if he had seen a ghost. “You’re Lily from the twenty-first century?”

“What are you talking about, Mr. Landlord? Of course, I’m Lily.” She looked down at the spoon in her hand and screamed. “Aah! Isn’t this the spoon I used a long time ago? Wasn’t I playing mahjong outside? How did I end up here?”

Hao Ren was stupefied. “Playing mahjong? What playing mahjong?”

Lily may have been a bit naive, but she was not a slowpoke. She realized her mistake and quickly explained, “Ahem, I mean I was waiting for you outside. How did I end up here?”

By now, Hao Ren had guessed what was happening in the outside world. “I’m here to save the world, while you guys are playing mahjong on the outside?”

“No, not really. The Nangong Siblings and Y’zaks are playing a card game.”

Hao Ren was speechless.