The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 333

Chapter 333: They Are Not Rigid People

 

Hao Ren should not have told them about “traffic police”. He had to spend additional time and effort to explain the concept to the four ascetics. After they finished their long explanation, Hao Ren and Becky got a little thirsty as well as tired. The burly, bearded man with grey hair meditated in silence for a while. He was the eldest ascetic among the four of them. Hao Ren eas beginning to think that the old man could not understand him. He was about to explain again when the old man suddenly looked up and said, “I understand all of it. There are two worlds—one is on the surface while the other exists subtly with a fragile link. The process of teleportation and umm… the ‘traffic police’; I understand all of it.”

Hao Ren was immediately relieved and said, “That’s good…”

“You mean, we come from another dimension that you call The Plane of Dreams,” another male ascetic with a short beard said as he looked at Hao Ren deeply, “and you call your own world the Surface World. These two worlds shouldn’t be connected, but because of a crack in a barrier called the Wall of Reality, a space tunnel was created and we were ‘dumped’ from our world, ending up here as a result. And, you are the one who controls access of this nature?”

Hao Ren nodded. Then, he heard the man ask in an unusually serious tone, “So, what is the position of the goddess in your system?”

Hao Ren was stunned. He felt like he was f*cked, and thought that he was finally experiencing the most likely situation one would experience when communicating with a religious fanatic. How does one explain the ascription of a god, whose rank was not much higher than a village chief from a macrocosmic perspective, and at the same time not provoke their hot and fragile faith?!

He had given a little thought to this sensitive issue, so he did not mention that there was a real god standing behind him. He mentioned Raven 12345, but did not shift topics to the troubled field of “real god” and “false god”, because he knew that Raven 12345 did not care about such labels. However, the ascetics in front of him would very likely fight with anyone for the “Authentication of the Real God”. He had carefully bypassed sensitive points when answering their religious questions, but he did not expect to face this problem head-on: when their worldview suddenly expanded from one planet to two universes, where would the supreme goddess stand?

Watching Hao Ren’s stiff expression, the four ascetics surprisingly did not pursue the question any further. Hao Ren thought he was going to get involved in a religious debate. He did not expect the bearded man to just nod indifferently and say, “It seems that this is a complicated problem, the glory of the goddess is limited to our land.”

Then, he just stood up and asked, “When shall we leave?”

Hao Ren was not the only one. Vivian was just as surprised and she asked, “You’re not pursuing this topic, huh? Isn’t your goddess supposed to be supreme?”

The big, bearded man shrugged and said, “She is our supreme goddess, but she may not necessarily be yours. It is enough that the glory of the goddess shines over her people. Where glory cannot reach, we consider it a test of our pious faith.”

The moment “Big Beardy” finished talking, the other three ascetics put their hands on their chests and whispered, “Keep the light in the dark and remain silent in the light.”

Hao Ren did not really understand what Big Beardy was talking about. He just scratched his head and said, “Oh, since you have no objection, let’s go then. I’ll take you to my house. After that, I have to take a group of people to the Blood Lake.”

“Blood Lake?” Big Beardy immediately frowned. He was very sensitive to this and asked, “Why are you taking people to the Sacred Grounds?”

Hao Ren spread his hands out and said, “When you were sent into this world, another group of people from this world fell into your world. It was a disaster. You are lucky to have survived this. The people who were sent there are dead. Can we at least get their corpses home?”

The ascetics were devout believers, but the Disciples of Glory’s belief in the goddess did not seem as extreme as one may think. When Big Beardy heard Hao Ren’s words, he was no longer stubborn about the issue of their holy land. Again, he put his hand on his chest and whispered, “Goddess, please have mercy on those poor souls! We have been tested here, but the people of the Otherworld have been implicated! May their souls be comforted by the goddess in the Sacred Grounds.”

“I don’t think I can keep up with their train of thought.” Lily suddenly poked Hao Ren on the arm and whispered, “Landlord, you’re so smart. You actually managed to communicate with them!”

Hao Ren rolled his eyes and thought, they were the ones who usually could not keep up with Lily’s train of thought. Finally today, it was Lily’s turn.

The woman, who was one of the slightly older ones among the ascetics looked at Becky curiously and asked, “Wait a minute, there was something I wanted to ask this young lady just now… You’re from Holletta, right? Why are you here? With this… traffic police?”

Becky was immersed in the excitement of seeing people from her hometown, that she reacted and said, “Oh yes, I haven’t said anything about myself yet. I was also sent to this world. But, you are here because of natural disaster; I’m here because of a noob’s casting failure and a natural disaster…”

Hao Ren muttered, “I’m not a noob. You’re here because of a natural disaster.”

“Looks like we’re not the only ones in trouble?” The older female ascetic said and looked as if she was thinking about something. “This is a really mysterious field that nobody has ever dabbled in. I never expected there to be such mysteries in the world… And this man somehow has the power to control the passage between the two worlds. She looked at Hao Ren subtlely and said, “It appears that you deserve our respect. You are the one who holds the mysteries we do not understand. Although I don’t quite understand your work, you are obviously in a ‘higher’ position than us.”

These words immediately made Hao Ren feel a little shy. He did not expect it to come from her. These ascetics were not as rigid as he had imagined after all. On the contrary, they had a strong grasp of things and were able to accept new concepts quickly. Although they always used the doctrine of the goddess to help them explain everything, they were undoubtedly open-minded and sharp: this was very different from the image of ascetics portrayed in many stories.

In fact, this was the exact feature that distinguished the ascetics of the Disciples of Glory: they were not only devout and fanatical believers, but also thoughtful thinkers as well as knowledgeable scholars, who mastered various secrets. The ascetics devoted their life to their faith; not to marry, not to have children, not to own estates and any form of private property, not to participate in any secular fights for power, or even human justice. All their energies were devoted to the study of knowledge in addition to their combat skills and divine spells. The Disciples of Glory believed that all knowledge in the world was created by their goddess. Therefore, the ascetics also regarded the process of learning knowledge as a kind of worship.

Basically, the ascetics of the Disciples of Glory had the qualities of a scholar—a rarity in other denominations.

Of course, stubborn, fanatical ascetics also existed, but most of them were in the forefront of the crusade against heresy and belonged to the puritan combatants. They would not become the keeper of the Orb, and would certainly not be here.

This saved Hao Ren lots of trouble.

As Hao Ren watched them talking to each other, he suddenly thought of something. He realised that there was still a lot of trouble awaiting him. “Wait! I almost forgot! You all can’t go back yet!”

The four ascetics turned and looked at Hao Ren at the same time. “I forgot to tell all of you… the teleportation between The Plane of Dream and the real word is a one-way journey. Currently, two-way teleportation is limited to objects only, not humans. You guys… can probably go back and stay for only 10 days,” Hao Ren said helplessly.

Becky also looked sad and she explained the Wall of Reality’s dire situation clearly. She then heaved a deep sigh and said with a mournfully, “I’m still waiting to be knighted and rewarded with a big piece of land to bring glory to my ancestors!”

The four ascetics looked at each other and realised that neither Hao Ren nor Becky were lying. The big, bearded man pondered for a while, then he looked at Hao Ren and said, “You mean we can’t stay in The Plane of Dreams for a long time, but it’s okay to go back for a short while?”

Hao Ren nodded. Big Beardy then looked calm and said, “That will do. It doesn’t matter if we can go back or not. As long as the Orb gets back to the sanctuary of the goddess, it’s okay. Times are hard, but we readily accept this test.”

Lily poked Hao Ren on the arm and said, “Landlord, I can’t keep up with their train of thought again…”

Hao Ren grinned and said, “You don’t have to. It’s a good thing anyway.”

Then, he looked at Big Beardy, trying to make himself appear sincere as he said, “By the way, can I have a look at the Orb of the Holy Synod…?”

Big Beardy immediately looked tense and asked, “Why?”

Sure enough, this was a touchy topic.

Chapter 334: Is That How It’s Used?

 

Sure enough, Big Beardy and the other three ascetics were all nervous the moment Hao Ren mentioned the Orb. It seemed to be an extremely sensitive topic.

“Relax, I’m not interested in your treasure. Have you forgotten that this orb is a treasure only in your world? No one here knows the importance of it,” Hao Ren explained and hurriedly waved his hand. At the same time, he thought of a good reason to give. “Okay, all of you were probably sent to this planet because of the impact of the Orb as well, so I need to use it to analyse the teleportation process. This is a necessary step to send you back.”

Big Beardy looked at Hao Ren suspiciously. The Orb of the Holy Synod was the most precious treasure for the four of them. When the little green men wanted to see it, they almost broke out in a violent conflict. But, Hao Ren was more favorable to them and they agreed with what Hao Ren just said: The Orb was a treasure in The Plane of Dreams, and since they were now in another world, the Orb had no value to the people in this world. Hence, Big Beardy pondered about it for a long time, nodded reluctantly and said, “I can let you see it, but you can’t touch it. I will allow you to touch it only after you show us that you do have the ability to open the dimensional door. This is a sacred item, you must understand.”

Big Beardy’s stance was very firm. After Hao Ren agreed, Big Beardy carefully opened a thick pocket hanging on him: he carried the Orb with him.

The cloth bag was opened, and a shimmering, golden orb was taken out.

It was a metal ball the size of a football. Its material was unclear, but it kept glowing. It had complex and delicate lines on its surface. The lines were straight, bumpy, as well as olderly and they were scattered all across its surface. At first glance, it seemed to be some kind of hieroglyphics, but a careful observation revealed that all the lines were connected together throughout the sphere. Hao Ren looked at the Orb curiously, wondering how they could communicate with their goddess with it. But after observing it for a while, he did not see the connection between this thing and God. Nonetheless, he found the Orb sort of familiar.

He had not seen the Orb before, but the jagged lines of the Orb… vaguely reminded him of something.

“These patterns…” Hao Ren muttered to himself, “Why do they look familiar… And, the size of this orb…”

Vivian frowned and looked at it for a long time. Her poor memory, which had not been working for the past 10,000 years surprisingly worked this time. She suddenly exclaimed, “Ah, that’s right! Isn’t there a hole in the Sacred Relic of Origins about the same size as this? I remember the same pattern in that round hole!”

After Vivian reminded him, Hao Ren immediately realised why it felt so familiar. Puzzled and surprised, he said, “Right! There is a hole in the Sacred Relic of Origins… What a coincidence!”

At this moment, the MDT suddenly said, “Scan completed, 100% contour similarity. To prevent damage to its function, internal structure cannot be determined as of yet.”

Hao Ren and the rest of his team were shocked. The younger female ascetic looked at the MDT on Hao Ren’s shoulder curiously and asked, “Your pauldron speaks?”

After being called a brick, coaster and merry-go-round, the MDT got another new identity. This immediately made it fly into a rage and yell, “Ignorant! Open your eyes and look at me! Have you ever seen a pauldron this small?! I am an empire-made Mobile Data Brick… No, I mean Mobile Data Terminal!”

Big Beardy ignored the talking “alchemy device”. He just protected the Orb in his hand and looked at Hao Ren carefully as he asked, “What did you say? You have seen something related to the Orb of the Holy Synod?”

A lot of things flashed through Hao Ren’s mind in that moment: since he could be flung out of The Plane of Dreams, something similar may have happened in the past, and perhaps the treasure of another goddess was displaced to another world. Big Beardy was a sharp thinker, and as the eldest of the four, he thought about things very quickly and carefully.

Hao Ren reacted quickly and nodded He decided to tell them a half-truth, “We did find something in the desert that could be related to the Orb in your arms. However, it’s not an orb, but a device. There’s a missing part on that device, which could possibly be the Orb of the Holy Synod. But, I have to put these two things together to confirm that.”

Big Beardy looked at Hao Ren’s expression and did not find that he was lying. In spite of that, he still kept the Orb back into his pocket. He gritted his teeth and said, “You have to let me see the equipment you’ve just mentioned. If it is a sacred thing that the goddess left behind in the Otherworld, I can study it with you—it seems like you are a scholar, so you should have the necessary tools. But, the Orb cannot leave my sight under any circumstance. And if that equipment is a sacred object belonging to the goddess, I’m going to take it away.”

Big Beardy was being a little unreasonable, but Hao Ren nodded and thought that he finally saw the tough side of an ascetic. He promised Big Beardy and at the same time, he told the Mobile Data Terminal telepathically, “Make a copy of the Sacred Relic of Origins…”

The structure of the Sacred Relic of Origins was not something complicated to the Mobile Data Terminal. The materials that made up the Sacred Relic were also very common and the relic could be composed in a ship-borne factory. The last time the MDT experimented, it copied several sets of the Sacred Relic’s “inner components”. Now, it was not a problem to replicate the complete set and the MDT happily promised, “It’ll be complete in an hour.”

They finally walked out of the ecodome. Everyone seemed preoccupied with some kind of trouble, except Lily, who was humming and looking carefree. Hao Ren was speculating on the connection between the Orb and the Sacred Relic of Origins as well as their true function; Becky was feeling homesick; Nangong Wuyue and Y’zaks were feeling worried about Hao Ren; the four ascetics were immersed in their thoughts of the Otherworld as well as the Sacred Relic, which made their hearts and minds restless; Vivian was thinking about what to cook for dinner and Lil Pea was thinking about what to eat.

Everybody was thinking about something, except the husky.

Tamula, along with a group of little green men were waiting outside. They did not dare to go nearer just now. When the little green men saw them, they immediately gathered around Hao Ren. He could only see a bunch of identical green heads swaying in front of him—like a bunch of mung bean cakes having a meeting. Hao Ren did not know where to look until Tamula called him. He nodded to Tamula and said, “It’s done and we’re leaving.”

Tamula pulled at Hao Ren’s hand in a warm manner and asked, “Not staying for dinner? I heard that it’s a popular thing on Earth…”

Although Hao Ren was very interested in alien food, he still pretended to reject the offer politely. “No, we have to go back to work—”

Tamula immediately nodded and said, “Okay, go ahead. I have to deal with something here. I will get back to Kuiper Station tomorrow.”

That left the last part of the sentence, “but it would be disrespectful to decline your warm hospitality” to choke to death in Hao Ren’s throat. And he wondered why this little green man was so honest!

They bid farewell to the little green men and went to the spaceship’s landing ground. It was the first time in a few months that the four ascetics had left the steel facility with complete freedom. Big Beardy looked back at the little green men, who were still waving goodbye at the door and said, “Actually, these green creatures are friendly.”

Another young male ascetic nodded and said, “But, they look too much like monsters.”

The young female ascetic also said, “We thought we were in hell at first and that the goddess was testing us with these monsters.”

Finally, the older female ascetic concluded, “Fortunately, the wisdom of the goddess gave us the power to give up the military confrontation at a critical moment. Otherwise, it would have inevitably deepened the misunderstanding.”

Hao Ren then asked Big Beardy curiously, “How did you eliminate the misunderstandings with the little green men then?”

Big beardy answered solemnly, “I realised that I can’t beat those machines.”

“…”

“Master, you’re too honest,” Nangong Wuyue could not help saying.

Big Beardy nodded indifferently and said, “I just admit the truth. We have a mission: we have to live to protect the Orb. In order to live, of course, we can’t do anything. Just surrender.”

It was just a few simple words from Big beardy, but Hao Ren suddenly felt a kind of inexplicable fanaticism. He suddenly seemed to understand the view of the world that these ascetics had.

They returned to the Petrachelys and it soon took off, leaving the planet. Before speeding off into hyperspace, Hao Ren turned the external monitor in the direction of the planet. The four ascetics saw that they were gradually moving away from the planet and looked at the huge spacecraft they were boarding in disbelief. Additionally, Big Beardy also recalled a few things from a legend he knew, and said, “Before the end of the world, people in our world also had the ability to fly to the stars. It’s said that there were cities on the moon… But, I feel that this ship is more powerful.”

Hao Ren believed that Big Beardy was praising him. He nodded contentedly and started the spacecraft’s automatic navigation.

The image from the external monitor became distorted and the spacecraft went into hyperspace.

Chapter 335: Adding Some Raw Materials

 

The four ascetics did not speak after the spacecraft entered hyperspace. Other than Big Beardy, the other three simply sat on the floor, closed their eyes and began to meditate. Hao Ren wanted to talk to them about The Plane of Dreams and the Disciples of Glory, but they were not keen on chatting. They answered all the questions earlier only because they desperately needed to know the state that they were in. Now that they already understood their situation, the ascetics were back to a blank state.

However, Lily’s actions were not affected by the atmosphere. She did not care if they wanted to talk to her or not. She just started to talk to the three ascetics sitting on the floor, “Hey, don’t sit on the floor, there are chairs…”

The three ascetics sitting on the floor just shook their heads and did not say a word. Big Beardy simply replied, “We do not need unnecessary enjoyment. Meditating on the teachings of the goddess is already the highest pleasure.”

Hao Ren scratched his head and looked at Big Beardy, suddenly remembering something quite important. “Oh, yes! I forgot to ask your names!”

However, Hao Ren did not expect Big Beardy to shake his head gently and say, “The monks have no names. We do not need names and we do not need to be remembered by names.”

Hao Ren was shocked. “No Names? You all don’t have a name? How do you usually call each other? And how do you do things regularly without a name?”

Hao Ren felt like he had just heard something unimaginable. He could not picture how a group of people with no names could live or work. How did they assign tasks? How did they communicate with each other? How did they know who people meant when they talked about other ascetics? How did they report an accident involving another member out there? Nonetheless, Big Beardy looked really serious. He was obviously not joking.

“We don’t need names.” Big Beardy spread his hand and tilted his head towards the other three ascetics sitting next to him. Although no one was talking or opening their eyes, one of them slightly nodded and said, “The ascetics have their own methods of interaction and identification. The Pope is also be able to contact each of the ascetics using a secret method. Other than that, we don’t need to be responsible to anyone or require any more complex social interactions.”

Hao Ren was amazed to learn that these ascetics had built something like a spiritual network! They did have names, but only those within their “network” knew how to recognise them. He wondered how the network was established; was it simply by means of this boring meditation?

But, Big Beardy had stopped answering anymore questions. He lowered his head and entered into a meditative state like the other three. “Notify us once we’ve arrived.”

The four ascetics sat on the floor as if they were in an endurance competition. They were as lifeless as statues and they managed to turn the entire bridge into a dreary place. Lily could not stand the boring atmosphere and she soon started to walk restlessly around the four ascetics. She then ran around them, sniffed at them and muttered, “I’m so bored, I’m so bored… They make the air so stuffy! Why didn’t I feel this way when we were on the planet of little green men…”

“Of course, you didn’t. They weren’t meditating that time. Come back here, don’t disturb them. They are meditating.” Vivian was sitting in her seat comfortably, lecturing Lily as she knitted. A number of thick, silvery-white thread balls were in the small basket on her lap. Lily ran to the basket when she saw the thick thread. She grabbed a ball of thread and compared it to the fur on her tail. “Wow, this is my fur… and you turned them into threads in such a short time? How did you do it?”

“With the power of magic,” Vivian answered, knitting speedily. When she saw Lily rubbing the ball of thread against her tail, she poked Lily in the arm with the end of the needle. “Don’t bother, they won’t grow back. But, if you don’t mind becoming a hairy monster again, I can get you some of that hair tonic. Maybe I can knit a sweater for our landlord… and get me a pair of gloves.”

The fur on Lily’s tail all stood up the moment she heard this. She quickly threw away the ball of thread and ran back to her chair. Soon after, she was curled up and asleep.

Actually, the Sacred Relic of Origins was already on the Petrachelys and Hao Ren could have started experimenting with the Orb of the Holy Synod once they left the planet of little green men. However, he wanted to keep a sample for research purposes, so he gave the MDT one hour to replicate the Sacred Relic of Origins and hide it from the ascetics. After the spacecraft stopped at Kuiper Station, Hao Ren woke the ascetics up and pretended to communicate with the port’s Handling Department. He then told them in a serious tone, “Well, the device has been placed in the spacecraft’s laboratory. Let’s go see if the orb belongs to it.”

The four statues… Well, the four ascetics immediately stood up without a second of delay and said, “Let’s go.”

They rushed to the scientific research cabin, and half of them were there to watch the fun. The original version of the Sacred Relic of Origins had been put away and its replica was now placed on the research equipment in the centre of the laboratory. It looked exactly the same as the authentic one. The shipborne plant would never make a mistake in replicating such a “simple device”, and its accuracy of replication was accoring to the Planck scale.

So, the replica in the middle of the room could basically pass as the “genuine Sacred Relic of Origins”.

The ascetics ignored the dazzling, advanced machinery in the scientific research cabin. All their attention was placed on the Sacred Relic of Origins. This “ancient” device was hugely different from any other creation in The Plane of Dreams. However, the four ascetics saw signs of their homeland in the lines on the device. The MDT directed the manipulator to open the cover of the upper part of the Sacred Relic. The round hole the size of a football swiftly appeared before them.

“This…” Big Beardy’s heart pounded when he saw the lines in the round hole. He had been guarding the Orb for so many years, thus he knew every detail regarding the Orb like the palm of his own hand. Even with just one quick glimpse, he was absolutely sure that the hole on the device was made for the Orb!

Now that the four ascetics had seen the Sacred Relic of Origins, they finally believed what Hao Ren told them. Big Beardy took out the Orb of the Holy Synod with great care, but he still gave Hao Ren a cautious look as he said, “Let me put it in… You have to make sure that there are absolutely no accidents throughout this process, and there must be absolutely no damage to the Orb!”

Hao Ren quickly affirmed the safety of the process over and over again. He almost had an urge to vow in the name of Raven 12345, but it was better if he did not. He then lowered the platform in the centre of the room slowly. Big Beardy gritted his teeth and stepped forward, holding the Orb of the Holy Synod in his hands respectfully. He proceeded to place it in the cavity found in the Sacred Relic of Origins.

Click.

The cover was closed tightly.

Energy was immediately injected into the Sacred Relic, and the replica immediately emitted a muffled hum. A moment later, a monotonous, stiff voice came from the Sacred Relic, “System testing passed, reloading important plug-ins. Confirming database… The database has minor damages. Repairing… Repair completed. Partial redundant function is restricted. Main functions of the equipment are ready.”

Hao Ren was pleasantly surprised. Although Hao Ren had expected it, he still got very excited and said, “Hurry up! Let’s see what this device makes!”

The Mobile Data Terminal was also very happy. It floated in the air and directed a few self-regulated machines to move some strange containers there. “That’s easy. Just add in some raw materials, then press the start button. Read the database while the machine runs.”

Hao Ren urged the MDT to start and he stood behind the Sacred Relic of Origins to observe it curiously. Lil Pea on the other hand, jumped onto the device when nobody was looking. The little kid had no idea what is was, but watching her dad get so excited, she thought the huge device had to be very powerful.

It was probably her long-lost aunt.

A small part of the Sacred Relic’s outer case was quickly removed and several “inlet pipes” were also opened. Various materials synthesised from the shipborne plant were injected into it in turn. While directing the injection of raw materials, the MDT read some descriptions on the core of the Sacred Relic, which was the database of the Orb of the Holy Synod. The MDT wanted to confirm that the ingredients were not faulty. The Orb was indeed a storage and processing device. Unfortunately, it just started running a moment ago. Most of the data could only be read later on. The MDT could only confirm the raw material list for now.

“Water… Normal. Group A protein… Normal. Acidification complex… Normal. Mineral Group 01… Normal. Mineral group 02… Normal…” The MDT read it out as he drew comparisons with the list. Everybody else was looking forward to something in its slow voice.

According to the description given by the Sacred Relic, this was a very quick synthesiser. It only took a little while to create what you wanted. Hao Ren was beginning to figure out at when he should stop it: he did not want to create a sentient man, whom he could not control. That was going to be a hassle.

However, nobody realised that Lil Pea was still lying in a little corner at the back of the Sacred Relic of Origins: This corner was the location of the main inlet pipe, and the little mermaid was hidden by the pipe’s cover.

Lil Pea lowered her head and looked at the inlet pipe, putting her head in it to take a sniff. Immediately after, she slapped her tail joyfully, thinking that this was going to something very delicious.

And then, she jumped in happily.

Chapter 336: Her True Identity

 

The Sacred Relic of Origins was slowly and gently humming. It was performing a scheduled synthesis. The device operated in a way that was different from human technology, including regular Physics and Chemistry. It combined various elements into a new life in a magical way, and injected knowledge as well as power directly into the lifeform. This magical process made Hao Ren extremely curious. He stared at the Sacred Relic’s front control panel, eager to see what it would eventually produce.

Something different eventually appeared on the control panel. Such a picture was never shown when the core of the Sacred Relic was missing: it was an outline of a human figure. There were a lot of parameters, symbols, formulas, and something like a progress bar around the contour map. Their speculation was correct; the Sacred Relic of Origins was used to synthesise humanoid creatures and it may have been a variety of humanoid creatures. As the device was running under its default settings, it was hard to say whether it could make something else.

Everyone gathered in front of the device and waited for the results. The four ascetics had no idea what these people were doing, but they confirmed that these people mastered technology far more advanced than those in The Plane of Dreams. These people also seemed to really have the ability to unlock the secrets of the two sacred objects. Therefore, the ascetics watched silently with excitement and anticipation. After a while, the young female ascetic suddenly whispered to Big Beardy, “Even though I do not question the intentions of the goddess, is this series of actions… a sacrilege?”

Big Beardy pondered about it for a while, then shook his head and said, “I do not feel the wrath of the goddess, do you?”

The other ascetics lowered their heads and thought to themselves. It was as if they were asking their own hearts, after which they shook their heads together. The older women whispered, “The power of the goddess is unusually calm. It has never been more peaceful since we left the country of those green creatures. It’s even more peaceful than the time I was baptised in the Royal Cathedral. It seems that she not only acquiesces to today’s events, but is also pleased with it.”

Big Beardy closed his eyes and pressed his hand against his chest. “Thank the goddess for her mercy and carry on. Follow the goddess’ cues and cooperate with these people. ”

“But, we can’t directly feel her decree here…” Another male ascetic was hesitant. “This world separates us from the goddess, and we’re just following our conscience…”

Big Beardy closed his eyes and spoke, his voice was as steady as ever, “Don’t waver. Even if we are isolated from the goddess, the power of the goddess remains as a seed in our bodies. We have to believe in the guidance of this seed.”

The other three ascetics then nodded and stopped talking.

Hao Ren’s speculation about the ascetics was absolutely right. They were indeed difficult to deal with. They only followed the instructions of their goddess and ignored any other mundane requests. Nonetheless, the four ascetics cooperated with them all the way. There was only one reason for that: they received the “goddess’ decree” in their prayers.

No matter where the behest came from or whether it was real, they thought that they understood the goddess’ intention. Hence, they chose to cooperate with the people of the Otherworld.

Vivian was the closest to these people. She vaguely overheard their conversation and she looked at them, feeling baffled as well as curious about what they meant.

At this point, the MDT detected that the Sacred Relic of Origins had completed the initial process of formation. It was starting on the next phase of integration and the “Perfusion of Life Ritual”. As it checked out the relic’s operation, the MDT reported the situation to Hao Ren, “Oh, the operation is moving on swimmingly. Let me see what’s in the main container… Group A acidified synthetic products, appropriate amount of protein groups, odd macromolecular chains, cloud-like energy fields, a fish… A fish?!”

The MDT emitted a scream it had never emitted before, “There is a fish in the container! And it looks familiar!!!”

Everyone at the scene was petrified. Hao Ren felt his scalp going numb. He just realised that there was nothing on his arm and concluded that the mermaid girl must have put herself in danger again. He rushed to the back of the Sacred Relic and pounced on the cover of the device. He did not care if it was still connected to “electricity”. He then shouted, “Lil Pea!”

The back cover of the Sacred Relic of Origins was pulled down by brute force, exposing its large inner components. Hao Ren’s heart pounded wildly as he searched the muddy mixture to find the fish. His eyes were almost attached to the outer casing of the inner components. Vivian and the others reacted a little slower; they were all only coming up to him now. Countless pairs of frightened eyes stared at the transparent container and they saw a small figure, about a foot long floating upwards from the mixture, looking confused.

Lil Pea was swaying in the muddy solution as if she was drunk. A few energy clouds, which looked like electric mounts were floating in the solution too. The mist was crackling all across the little mermaid and it even entered her body. Despite her strange state however, Lil Pea still looked good. She waved to the people outside the container and swam up excitedly, knocking on the crystal shell of the container.

The little one rubbed her head and continued to knock the crystal shell.

Hao Ren was really anxious and roared, “Shut it down, now!!!”

Needless to say, the MDT had already tried to stop it. However, the internal reaction of this synthetic device was like a chain. Even if the energy input was stopped, the reaction in the container would continue for quite a long time. Hao Ren noticed the crystalline device at the bottom of the Sacred Relic dimming, but the flashing mist in the container was still there. He immediately raised his fist, wanting to smash it. Vivian stopped him in the nick of time and said, “Don’t be impetuous! If it explodes, it’ll all be over!”

Hao Ren took a deep breath and put his hand down. He was sweating and waiting for the reaction in the container to stop completely. Now, the only thing that could comfort him was the fact that Lil Pea was still swimming in it leisurely (and, occassionally hitting the crystal shell in excitement). He felt relieved as long as the little kid’s expression looked normal.

Finally, the reaction in the container subsided. Several compounds used for rapid termination of the reaction were injected into the mixture through a few pipes above the jar. This also dispelled the shimmering mist inside it. A few seconds later, a seam was opened in the centre of the inner components and the crystal shell parted while the mixture inside was all drained out.

Lil Pea also flowed out to the ground along with the liquid in the jar. The little kid did not realise what had just happened. She was lying on the ground, still swimming around. When she found that she was not moving, she looked at her surroundings and jumped towards Hao Ren excitedly as she shouted, “Dad!”

Hao Ren quickly grabbed the little kid to check for any injuries. Lil Pea wondered why Hao Ren kept inspecting her body and she laughed because it felt ticklish. Hao Ren found that the little kid seemed to be healthy and fine. Relieved, he said, “Phew… How did you jump in?”

“There’s a pipe opens,” Lil Pea was trying to explain it in a messy sentence that anyone could barely understand, “it smells good, jumps in, swims in a long place… Swim… Swim for a while… then come out!”

While the little kid was explaining the situation, she patted Hao Ren on the arm with her tail, and out of nowhere she had hiccup.

All of a sudden, the little mermaid disappeared from Hao Ren’s hands and fell on the test bench not far away.

Hao Ren stared at his empty hands, clearly stunned. Then, he slowly turned around and saw Lil Pea on the test bench, looking at him naively.

Everyone had the same reaction. Nangong Wuyue exclaimed, “What was that… What’s going on?!”

Lil Pea was still confused. She looked around, stretched her hand out to Hao Ren and said, “Hug…” And, she hiccuped again.

Hao Ren only saw a shadow, after which a fish tail slapped against his face. Lil Pea had “flown” back again.

After it happened twice, someone finally realised something. Y’zaks scratched his bald head and muttered, “Teleportation?”

Lil Pea looked at Y’zaks and hiccuped again. Her body disappeared only to reappear on his forehead.

Everyone was surprised. Now even a fool could see that the little mermaid had learned to teleport. It seemed to be triggered by “hiccups”. Hao Ren’s mind was a mess and he could not figure out what was happening. He just stood there for a long time, feeling bewildered. He slowly turned to the Sacred Relic of Origins and asked, “Is this related to what happened just now?”

Vivian looked at Lil Pea, who was jumping on Y’zaks head and said, “She’s able to teleport without any help… Why do I feel like I’ve seen this before?”

At this point, the MDT was also reminded of something. It quickly drifted to the top of the Sacred Relic of Origins and connected itself to the Orb of the Holy Synod, extracting the last information from its database. It then exclaimed, “The heck… We’ve had it all wrong!”

A set of holographic images were projected from the bottom of the MDT. They were the final images of the synthetic organism stored in the Orb of the Holy Synod as well as the functional and “parametric” descriptions associated with the creature.

Vivian saw it and she was completely shocked. “…Demon hunter?”

Chapter 337: The Mystery Is Clearing Up

 

The synthetisation formula and true “product description” of the Sacred Relic of Origins were finally revealed before them. But, the results amazed everyone. Astounded, Hao Ren pointed his finger at the holographic images and descriptions he saw before he was able to say a word. “Is this a demon hunter synthetisation formula?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s a creature called ‘the sixth-generation enhanced life form’,” the MDT corrected him. It retrieved information from the data vault in the Orb of the Holy Synod, projecting the scientific name of the humanoid via hologram. “It’s a synthesised product of the Sacred Relic of Origins. It closely resembles the demon hunters we know, in terms of their physical structure, life expectancy, tenacity and other natural abilities. I’m trying to get more info from the database… however it seems that’s about it. The sixth-generation enhanced life form is the demon hunter—the first generation of the demon hunters we know today.”

A long silence ensued. The ascetics had no clue of what they were talking about, so they just remained silent and sat on the sidelines. Meanwhile, the rest were shocked and did not know how to respond. Even Lily was rooted to the spot like a fossilised husky. The 10-second long silence was only broken when Lil Pea looked up to see everyone frozen like a statue as her stomach brewed and she hiccupped.

The hiccup sent her flying 10 metres backwards into a cistern, which was full of reactant liquid. Only half a tank was left after Lil Pea fell into it.

The sound of splashing liquid woke Hao Ren out of his stupor. Blinking his eyes, he pinched his face trying to make sure that he was not imagining things. Then, he jabbed Vivian on the arm and said to her, “What do you say, Vivian?”

“If demon hunters were synthesised by the Sacred Relic of Origins…” Vivian looked at the large reactor curiously where a red alarm light flashed. The mixture was still flowing out from the main container as a result of the emergency stop. The remnants of magic in the mixture glowed as two autonomous robots frantically cleaned up the mess. “It means our understanding of the otherworldlings have been all wrong. The otherworldlings were originally from The Plane of Dreams?”

Hao Ren was confused. He tried to collect his thoughts . “We can’t be sure. Maybe both otherworldlings and demon hunters were just products of biochemical experiments. And, the machine before us is one that synthesises demon hunters. My thinking is that this synthesiser only made demon hunters. Remember what Hesperides said? The Olympians were acting weirdly during the end times and Athena murmured something about digging their own grave after she fiddled with the Sacred Relic of Origins…”

Nangong Wuyue listened and a thought came to her mind. “Wait a second! When she said ‘digging our own grave’, was she implying that it was the otherwordlings who built this machine? Were they the ones who created the demon hunters?”

There was even more silence. Lily, who would usually be daydreaming nodded her head; her face was serious this time. “Maybe…”

“But, that doesn’t add up historically,” Vivian said, spreading out her hand. “I’m the oldest otherworldling on Earth, but I have absolutely not heard about the Sacred Relic. As far as I remember, no otherworlding has created a similar device. Demon hunters have been in existence as long as we have. They were quite low-profile in the beginning and only became active during the Mythological Era. However, I’m dead sure… that demon hunters have been in existence since the beginning.”

Nangong Wuyue looked up. “Ahh… demon hunters have been in existence since the beginning.”

Hao Ren looked at Nangong Wuyue curiously. “Could the sirens be the ones who created them? I mean, sirens are the most otherworldly of all otherworldlings on Earth. And, no one knows what your race has been doing.”

Nangong Wuyue waved her hand, distancing herself from the matter. “How could I possibly know? If you threw me into the Pacific Ocean I’d be more at lost than you.”

Hao Ren rubbed his chin in thought. He looked up at the Orb of the Holy Synod and a sudden realisation hit him. He realised what a fool he was, because he had mixed up the timeline. “Now I get it! Demon hunters have been in existence at the same time as the otherworldlings on Earth. But, their real existence happened much earlier than that. Don’t forget one thing—they actually came from The Plane of Dreams!”

He walked towards the Sacred Relic of Origins and knocked on its outer shell a few times. “The Orb of the Holy Synod existed before the destruction of the world. It came from The Plane of Dreams and it’s one of the components of the Sacred Relic of Origins. So, this entire device was already in existence before the world’s destruction!”

Vivian shouted, “So, were the demon hunters!”

They looked at each other after the moment of epiphany The fragmented intel they had gathered started to piece together. It was still incomplete, but so much better than the wild guesses they had made previously. Y’zaks, a total outsider in this matter had the clearest view of all. “Everything began in The Plane of Dreams. The races there built the Sacred Relic of Origins and it produced the sixth-generation enhanced life form—the demon hunter. Some time after that, The Plane of Dreams was destroyed and some of the residents, relics as well as the first batch of demon hunters were flung into Earth, all of which we have known to be true. And now for the inference: people who came to Earth from The Plane of Dreams were affected by certain problems during the travel, causing them to lose their memories as well as part of their achievements. Their unity fell apart and they turned against each other based on racial lines. There weren’t many Sacred Relic of Origins on Earth and most were buried in places unknown to the otherworldlings. The number of demon hunters who arrived on Earth were not that many too, they only confronted the otherworldings openly when their numbers grew, which Vivian’s memory. We still have no explanation regarding the destruction of The Plane of Dreams, but Becky mentioned people in there poking their noses into forbidden knowledge—to create a perfect life form, which I believe was the demon hunter!”

It sounded convincing. Hao Ren nodded in agreement, but Nangong Wuyue was unsure. “Then why would the demon hunters want to go against their creators as if there was much hatred between them.”

Lily’s ears fluttered as she confidently said, “The reason is simple: the creatures were ill-treated by their creators. So, there was a revolt . Although this may sound old-fashioned, it’s still pretty common. I have been writting about similar storied. All creatures have a tendency to rebel against their creators.”

Vivian hugged herself. “According to your theory, would Hessiana become a turncoat one day?”

Hao Ren downplayed her misplaced concern. “Not at all. Her affection for you is almost morally challenging. You’ve never abused her, have you?”

Vivian knitted her brows together, feeling unsure. “Maybe not. Back then, we were so poor, we did not go through a day without hunger. Plus, I did beat her up, sometimes—she was such a pig head, and she still is.”

No one gave a sh*t about Vivian’s unfounded concern. They all agreed with Lily. Perhaps the hatred the demon hunters had towards the otherworldlings stemmed from their creature-creator relationship.

While they were discussing the matter among themselves, the four ascetics stood silently at one side, listening. Their faces were sombre. No one could guess what was in their minds. When the discussion came to an end, Big Beardy opened his mouth and said, “You were talking about the destruction of our world.”

Hao Ren observed the speaking ascetic and realised that the four “masters” barely made their presence known in their silence; he was too engrossed with The Plane of Dreams discussion and his senses were overpowered by Y’zaks’ loud voice, so he did not notice them. Big Beardy found Hao Ren looking at him and he said indifferently, “Do not blaspheme against our goddess, or I will defend her with my life. Other than that, it’s none of my business.”

Big Beardy and the three ascetics lowered their heads, becoming statue-like again. No one could guess what they were thinking.

Hao Ren shook his head. He then ordered the autonomous robots to clean up the scene and seperate the Orb from the Sacred Relic of Origins just as they agreed beforehand. Those two objects had to be returned to the four ascetics.

He turned and looked at the others. “Let’s not waste any more time. I’ve decided to go into The Plane of Dreams. There is a big problem now!”

The little mermaid nodded just as everyone else did. She hiccupped and was flung against the wall.

Nangong Wuyue said, “Maybe we should first check the kid out.”

Chapter 338: A Foot-Long, Demon-Hunting Fish

 

The medical facility was just a stone’s throw away. It catered to any medical operation on any type of life form except Lil Pea. She was too tiny. There was no pocket-sized chamber for her. So, they had to use whatever they had at hand and improvise.

Hao Ren rushed his fish-daughter to the medical facility as the hiccup flung Lil Pea away each time. The four ascetics followed, but they were clueless about what Hao Ren and the rest were doing. However, they could see that the little girl, who looked like a foot-long fish was affected by the Sacred Relic. Hence, they wanted to find out more. The medical facility was not a restricted zone and they were not prevented from entering.

Before the physical examination started, they first figured out the pattern of her involuntary teleportation. Firstly, it had something to do with the hiccups, as a hiccup would cause an involuntary teleportation; secondly, the direction and distance of each involuntary teleportation was dependent on her line of sight, but how far she would go was still unknown; lastly and most importantly, Lil Pea could not penetrate solid surfaces. If something was in her way, she would hit right into it with a bam. Any obstables could stop her, such as walls and Y’zaks’ head. But in this case, it could be a blessing in disguise; the fear of every first-timer was to get stuck in something during teleportation. Every year in The Plane of Dreams, there were dozens of deaths, because novice sorcerers would get themselves stuck in various objects. But, there was no such fear for Lil Pea; she derived her ability from the Sacred Relic of Origins and it must have given her a “safety lock” when it blessed her with the ability.

The MDT switched one of the medical pods on and Hao Ren carefully placed Lil Pea inside. She had no idea what was happening. She looked around curiously, but also nervously. She cried quietly and flapped her tail. She appeared reluctant when Hao Ren set her down. He comforted her, “Don’t worry, it’s just a photo shoot. You can lie down here, take a nap if you want. Daddy is by your side…”

Lil Pea could already understand human language, so she quited down, staring at the shiny crystal panel in amazement. She moved around the pod, exploring. Nangong Wuyue could not help muttering, “Don’t you think the medical pod is a little too big for her?”

Just barely a foot long, the little mermaid could run freely inside the medical pod. Relatively speaking, it was as big as a hall to a human. The MDT started to fiddle with the control panels and said, “No worries, it will still work like a charm even if you throw a mosquito in there.”

The medical pod slowly closed. Hao Ren was worried that Lil Pea would be flung out of the pod when she hiccupped. But before he knew it, Lil Pea had fallen into deep sleep. Barely a few seconds later, the scan returned the results on the medical pod’s display unit. The MDT used Lil Pea’s existing medical records and compared them to the results. It then made an extrapolation, simulating what was going to happen in her body if her condition persisted. Except the MDT, eveyone at the scene knew nuts about medical stuff. They could only wait.

Nangong Wuyue looked at Lil Pea’s MRI scan. The little mermaid was sleeping soundly in the “casket”, curling herself up in a posture similar to a question mark. But, the image of her bones caught the siren’s eyes. She took a closer look and scratched her chin in thought. “Hmm, there really is a fish bone. Do I haved it too?”

Glancing at Nangong Wuyue, Hao Ren had cold sweat trickling down his forehead. He wondered when the maiden would stop worrying about bones.

“Everything looks fine. She is in perfect health.” The MDT broke the good news after a long examination. “She’s as fit as a fiddle with no tissue deterioration. Anyway, it seems that her body has had some positive changes. She’s a lot healthier than before. Her body is producing some new, but harmless hormones, probably an adaptive reaction to the earlier incident.”

Nangong Wuyue remembered Raven 12345 had once said that Lil Pea came from a harsh planet where its sun was unstable. The cosmic ray there was too strong and the volatile environment gave the mermaid race super vitality as well as adaptability.

So, Lil Pea had inherited the best genes of her ancestors. The reactant may have been harmful to other races, but Lil Pea was not affected at all—instead, she grew even stronger.

Nonetheless, Hao Ren was not so sure. He asked, “What causes the involuntary teleportation when she hiccups?”

“Some kind of magic marker,” the MDT said as it fluttered a little. “Perhaps, demon hunters got their talent this way—via direct injection. The mermaid race, like Lil Pea have a high level of affinity towards magic. We don’t know how to teach her. She was just directly injected with a supernatural power. We need time to analyse how it works; as mysterious as the Sacred Relic of Origins is, there has to be a set of laws that’s behind all this. The injection process may be related to Lil Pea’s brain structure, or maybe something of a higher realm, like the soul. The previous civilisation in The Plane of Dreams must have possessed the ability to study the secrets of the soul.”

As mommy of Lil Pea, Nangong Wuyue only cared about the girl’s health. Knowing Lil Pea was fine, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, “No matter what, she is safe at least. But, we would like to know why hiccups cause the involuntary teleportation.”

The MDT played a funny background music and said, “Some people turn into a husky when eating spicy sticks; but what does a husky have to do with spicy sticks?”

Lily was all ears. “Say what you want, but don’t drag me into this. Some people even experience super evolution just by eating spinach…”

Vivian glanced at Lily and said, “Do you really think that turning into a husky is called super evolution? Have you ever heard of people transforming into superhero by just eating spicy sticks?”

The two of them started arguing; the bone of contention was why spicy sticks could and could not turn anyone into a superhero, as well as why large tails were and were not a result of super evolution—although no one knew why the argument had gone sideways to be about the tail. Arguments about spicy sticks were not going to help explain what happened to Lil Pea. Hao Ren and Nangong Wuyue spent a long time scratching their heads, but they were none the wiser. They decided it was just a conditioned reflex from the hiccup.

“She just acquired the teleportation ability of a demon hunter. If I’m not mistaken, Lil Pea will slowly be ‘demon-hunterised’ and start to have exorcism powers in her blood as well as the ability to sniff out otherworldlings. She’ll be able to read Letta Runes and stuff like that.” the MDT opined. “Just watch out.”

Something seemed to bother Hao Ren all of a sudden. “Wait a second! If that happens, how is she going to control all these abilities? None of us know how to train a demon hunter!”

Y’zaks peered at Nangong Wuyue and said, “Maybe it’s time to get a teacher. Do you think you could contact your brother?”

Nangong Wuyue shook her head. “He’s moving from place to place all the time. He only contacts me once he puts up at some place.”

Hao Ren was baffled. He said, “It’s not the Stone Age. Can’t he just get a mobile phone?”

Nangong Wuyue spread her hands. “But, you still gotta wait. You know how it is when a demon hunter goes hunting. You’re hiding in some castle or place infested with monsters. Imagine what would happen if your phone rings in moments like this?”

Hao Ren pouted. It looked like Nangong Sanba was out of the question. So, what was he to do then?

The MDT pondered about it for a long time before coming up with a wild idea. “I’m going to play music to scare the hell out of her when she gets out.”

Curious, Hao Ren asked, “So that she won’t teleport involuntarily again?”

“No. She’ll stop having hiccups again.”

“…”

A lousy idea was better than no idea, so everyone agreed.

When the medical pod opened, Lil Pea stepped out. The MDT blasted The Imperial March right in her face. She was stunned and her hiccups stopped. She was a happy bunny now. Hao Ren was wishing that her other abilities would not surface before he could find a way to train her. She had to master self-control first. So, he held her and said, “Remember this: try not to have hiccups. If you really have to, try do it in a safe place…”

It had been a hell of a moment, but Lil Pea was fine. Hao Ren could now depart to The Plane of Dreams.