The Record of Unusual Creatures - Chapter 886

Chapter 886: The Golden Manor

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

Pierre was even more stunned than Hao Ren was when he saw the latter’s reaction because a vampire should know about the Golden Manor and he thought that Hao Ren was a vampire. He was wondering what did the two vampires were doing here.

“What is Golden Manor?” Vivian frowned as she looked at the free detective. “Listen, we don’t want to hurt you, but you’d better be honest. Other people, who may not be as diplomatic as we are, are keeping an eye on this place now. If you are honest with us now, maybe we can protect you.”

The chilly air around Vivian made Pierre quivering. Seeing Pierre was about to get his third heart attack, Hao Ren patted Vivian on the shoulder. “Give him a break. We might not be able to revive him if he passes out again,” he said.

Realizing that the place was not the right place to talk, Hao Ren took Pierre into a room, where there were only a rickety wooden table and a few dusty chairs. Vivian dusted it a bit so that they could barely sit down. Hao Ren held Pierre, whose face was pale, and let him sit down at the table. Pierre took an exquisite hanging lamp out of the carrying bag and fixed it on the wall next to him. Hao Ren had spotted a load of stuff inside the bag when Pierre opened it; all strange things such as grotesque iron bars, telescope-like lens sets, and weird devices that creaked. Hao Ren could not help but ask, “Looks like you’re fully equipped. What are these for?”

Pierre sighed: “There is one thing I’ve never lied to you; I am a detective, but I investigate things that no other ordinary detectives do: ghost stories and myths, which belong to your world.”

Hao Ren became very interested. “Ghostbuster? Spiritual detective? Vampire lover and the like?”

He could roughly guess the career of Pierre: an ordinary human being, with no special strength, relying on tools to work in the supernatural realm, a special element that danced at the very edge of the otherworldling society like the scavenger in the world of magic. There was no such survival space for people like Pierre during the Mythological era, but with the end of the Mythological period and the decline of the otherworldlings, a gray area, low-risk ‘heritage field’ had spawned people like Pierre. Hao Ren knew long ago that somewhere in this world there must be people who made a living in this field, but he had never seen one before.

After hearing what Hao Ren has said, Pierre felt a little awkward. “More or less, yeah. I thought you know our business very well, after all, you are the ones live in that ‘world.’”

“Have you ever met other otherworldlings?” Vivian asked curiously.

“Rarely, but there were occasional contacts, which were all close calls. Thanks to those experiences, I could barely remain calm after seeing you.” Pierre nodded.

Hao Ren waved his hand. “Tell me about the Golden Manor.”

Pierre’s eyes gleamed as he took out a crumpled notebook from his bag carefully. “Golden Manor is a lost ancient ruin. Not many spiritual detectives know about the manor, and those who believe in its existence are even fewer. It is said that thousands of years ago, a group of ‘Tara’ people from the deep space of the dark universe were exiled from their hometown and wandering in the cold space before landing on this planet during a strong wind at night. Although coming from the cold and dark space, these ‘Tara’ people were a civilization surrounded by light and wealth, so they built an incredible fortress when they landed on Earth. That is the Golden Manor.”

When talking about the “Golden Manor,” Pierre became energetic, no more timid and panicky like before when talking about the manor. He pointed Hao Ren and Vivian to the messy illustrations and notes on his notebook. “Legend has it that the ancient gods on Earth fought with Tara. After the battle, the two sides reached an agreement, which allowed Tara to build their camp around a hill in South America. The hill was composed of black stones and dark-brown soil, and there was a river running in parallel on each side. At some point during the summer solstice, the sunlight would shine from over the top of the hill, onto the entire plain in front of the hill. The Golden Manor was right on the hillside under the sun. I have been searching for years and finally found this location to be the dark hill.”

Pierre’s notebook was filled with hand-drawn illustrations, and notes next to the illustrations were written in strange shorthand symbols, which should be the secret codes that the spiritual detectives used. Hao Ren had no idea what those symbols meant nor did he interested in the records. He didn’t have any interest in the maps. The Golden Manor was what caught his attention. “Is this manor built of gold?”

“This is the most crucial part of the story!” Pierre was so excited that his face turned red. “The Tara people practiced magic. They turned sunlight into gold, which ironically was the least valuable thing in their society. They purified gold to the extreme, made it into gold slates and laid them on the walls, as well as railings and benches, all of which were pure gold. The purity of the gold was a higher quality than all golds the human had ever produced and contained the power of the sun. Those who touch this gold would master the magic and understand the mysterious Letta runes.”

Since these spiritual detectives knew what Letta Rune was, the legend of the Golden Manor was probably true. It was likely the distorted version of the saga of the Ancattero family in human society. Hao Ren turned his head around looked out the window; it was dark outside. “Where is the Gold Manor that you said?”

“The Tara people have sent it into exile,” Pierre said with a serious face. “The planets in the solar system were affecting each other, the magical power on this planet was declining, and even the Tara people were slowly losing their strength, so they decided to leave the planet. To harness the necessary energy, they closed the Golden Manor and sealed it in the shades formed at the intersection between sunlight and darkness. Since the Golden Manor itself was built using the sun, it became untouchable just like a light once it was in exile. To enter the Golden Manor, you must change your vision and be able to see the path in the light.”

Hao Ren quietly poked Vivian’s arm. “This is the folk version of the ending of the Mythological era, eh?”

Meanwhile, Vivian’s eyes fell on at the strange lens in Pierre’s bag. “So you intend to use this gadget to change your ‘vision’ to find the entrance to the Golden Manor in the sunlight?”

“It’s very effective. I used to find the entrance of many mysterious realms with this thing,” Pierre said confidently, but he was quickly conscious of who they were and feeling embarrassed. “Of course, this prop is just for us who have little knowledge about magic. You don’t need them at all.”

Vivian picked up the kit lens and was surprised to see the lenses emitting blue light in the dark. Some lenses showed strange patterns when they overlapped each other. “Is it treated with potions? You do have genuine stuff, eh?”

“I inherited these lenses and the art of producing potions from my grandfather, who was–”

“Who was mostly the servant of the vampire or werewolf,” Vivian cut in. “He learned these arts from his master. The descendants of the servants of the gods turned into spiritual detectives by relying on this incomplete inheritance. Now, these spiritual detectives have turned around to dig the secrets of the gods in the ruins of the Mythological era. Who could have thought that things would come full circle?”

While saying, she put the lens back into the bag. “I suggest you should stop, the potion was harmful to humans, and the lens lets your eyes see something that should not be seen, those things will invade your mind. If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in the psychiatric hospital, you’d better stay away from this field while you still can. Of course, it is entirely up to you; I’m merely giving a suggestion.

Pierre’s response was ambiguous. As the atmosphere became awkward, Hao Ren reignited the Golden Manor conversation. “So you are going after the gold?”

There was a subtle change in Pierre’s expression, but his answer surprised Hao Ren and Vivian. “Gold… It’s one of the reasons, but I’m more hoping to see the legendary Sun Roulette that sealed the Shade of Wrath. My desire for wealth is far less than the yearning for knowledge. Seeing the Sun Roulette alone worth all the gold of the entire manor.”

---

Chapter 887: The Solar Roulette

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

Hao Ren initially thought that spiritual detective like Pierre who walked on the edge of the magic field would not provide any good intelligence, so he did not care what he said. After all, a spiritual detective was only akin to scavenger of the mysterious world. All they could obtain was just the shallow knowledge that the otherworldlings disdained. Even the demon hunters had little interest in this group of people who lived between humans and otherworldlings. However, Hao Ren had overlooked something: many things had escaped the hunting of the demon hunters after the ‘collapse of the myth.’ The final movement of those things happened to be in the hands of the human beings who had been taken lightly by everyone else.

It was just that the number of these heritages was scarce and scattered, and no one could care less during the decline of the mystical doctrine.

Their understanding of the otherworldlings was not enough, and their explanation of the ‘collapse of the myth’ was merely the imagination of the weird and incomprehensible mystics. However, the Solar Roulette was probably real because he had mentioned the keyword, the Shade of Divine Wrath, which reminded them of the mysterious shadows that had caused so many conflicts.

“What is the Solar Roulette?” Vivian asked, curious of the term.

Pierre found a roll of crumpled scroll from his bag and carefully spread it on the table in the dim light. “This scroll is very precious. I found it in a crypt in Egypt, where it almost cost my life. I believe that this thing depicts the Solar Roulette.”

Hao Ren and Vivian came up to take a closer. The scroll was black and yellow, had a parchment-lined texture and burnt Mark’s on the edges. The old scroll depicted a beautiful disc-shaped object filled with a mysterious pattern of circles, a circular hole or groove in the center, and radiating lines representing sunlight. Hao Ren had noticed that there were two ancient Egyptian figures– a man and a woman–at the corner of the disc as if they were there as a reference. If the reference was correct, then the disc should be ten meters high.

Next to the disc patterns were words written in ancient Egyptian text, but because of the burn, some text was missing and barely readable. Some words were legible though, such as “The light of the sun… God and the beast… suppression and punishment.”

It sounded like some weird, incomprehensible and ancient chants.

“See? It’s beautiful. The artistic skill was simply impossible during the time of the scroll’s creation. The Egyptians at that time did not possess such a painting technique, and they did not have this kind of writing material.” Pierre pointed at the details on the scroll, face flushed. “However, this is indeed ancient Egyptian writing, so the person who drew this image must be the awakened who had acquired mysterious knowledge, probably similar to the ancient detectives of the spiritual world. Besides, you can see the surface of the disc had traces of golden color pigment. After careful examination, I found that it used to contain gold. It is characteristic of ancient Egyptian paintings; they often apply color to the images they produce faithfully. The more important things were, the more diligently they did it. So we can judge the race and habitat areas of the people according to the skin color of the people on the Egyptian murals. That was how I found the clue of the colorful clothes of Joseph. Anyway, it’s not important here.”

“Golden pigment? It is indeed not the technique that Egyptians used on the scrolls of that era.” Vivian was more interested in this topic. “So the material of this disc might be gold?”

“Such a massive gold creation, and so beautiful, and more importantly, it is also associated with the words ‘sun’ and ‘god’; this is undoubtedly the Solar Roulette,” Pierre said, nodding hard. “Humans of that era couldn’t possibly have imagined such a thing, let alone make. Only Tara was capable of producing this artifact. As far as I know, the Solar Roulette is a huge golden device, the symbols on it represent the highly mysterious secrets magic, which the Tara people used to suppress the Shade of Divine Wrath.”

Hao Ren interrupted him. “What is the Shade of Divine Wrath according to what you know?”

“There is a legend in the spiritual detective’s world that the gods ruled the earth in ancient times. The gods, such as Odin and Zeus that have become mythological stories now indeed existed in the past. These gods were mighty, but not invincible. Because of their arrogance, disaster befell them, which was the Shade of Divine Wrath. The Shade of Divine Wrath was the dark side of the god, an unstoppable shadowy power that fell from the deep universe. On the earth, the spiritual defenses of the ancient gods were torn open, and various melees were triggered. When the problem deteriorated, the gods gathered to request the ‘Tara’ family, who was also from the deep dark space, to create a divine artifact–the Solar Roulette. The Solar Roulette is a sun-casting so that it could counter the dark forces of the Shade of Divine Wrath. The most powerful warriors of the gods joined hands in a fierce battle in the clouds above the west of Mount Olympus, driving the Shade of Divine Wrath to the Solar Roulette before sealing them in the roulette finally. But this battle ended up in disgrace.”

“In disgrace?” Hao Ren asked. “What happened?”

“The Solar Roulette was so powerful that the gods started to covet its power. They tried to use the seal as an excuse to try to get their hands on the Solar Roulette. After the end of the Shade of Divine Wrath battle, they fell into another war that was driven by greed.”

Vivian pouted. “How could that possibly happen when I was there?”

Pierre was flabbergasted. “Huh?”

“Ignore her,” Hao Ren said, trying to divert Pierre’s attention. “Continue your story and treat us as ordinary people. I want to know the various legends in your spiritual detective circles.”

Pierre continued talking, but whenever he thought of Hao Ren and Vivian were the very characters of the mythical stories, a strong sense of incongruity came to mind. He tried to suppress the feeling though. “Legend has it that the gods were embroiled in yet another war, but there was no winner in this war; a powerful force suddenly broke out of the Solar Roulette, severely injuring all the warring parties. Only then, they realized that no one could control the power of the roulette. Only Tara, the ‘gods’ from the deep dark space were the most powerful. Tara became the custodian of the Solar Roulette and placed the roulette in their Golden Manor. If I’m not mistaken, the roulette should be right our feet.”

As Pierre wrapped up his story, Hao Ren began to sort out the information in his head.

The myths and legends circulating in human circles were often distorted, but Pierre’s story partially matched with Vivian’s memory and Hesperides’ description. The ‘Tara’ in the story was undoubtedly the Ancattero family who lost contact with the outside world not long ago. The family had never been active in the Mythological era, but it turned out that they were mighty but low profile. As for the Shade of Divine Wrath, it was the Shade of Chaos. Spiritual detectives believed that Tara came from the deep dark space of the universe. It was probably a rumor. Perhaps the Tara people knew that they came from an alien planet in another world, but somehow this was twisted to become the deep dark space.

At present, the most significant difference between the ‘spiritual detective version’ and the ‘otherworldling family version’ of the story was the addition of the Solar Roulette.

The Solar Roulette seemed to be the key to sealing the Shade of Chaos.

“Do you remember that you have ever made something similar?” Hao Ren looked at Vivian and said, “or have seen something similar?”

“I couldn’t recall any,” Vivian replied, shaking her head. “But we did seal the Shade of Chaos in something; the Shade if Chaos was invisible, it must be sealed into something tangible to he controllable.”

“Even Hesperides and Wayne don’t know about this roulette. Fortunately, we met this spirit detective. Otherwise, we might have missed the most critical thing when we enter the Ancattero territory.” Hao Ren sighed, “But do you think it is appropriate for this spirit detective to continue his activities?”

Vivian shook her head: “His enthusiasm for pursuing knowledge is admirable, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to let him join the mission, after all, he has a heart condition… Who is it?”

Suddenly, something caught Vivian’s eyes. She looked at the corner of the room and shouted quietly as ice shards suddenly emerged in the air in the surroundings. Before her voice trailed off, something popped out in the corner of the room.

It was a white flame rising from the floor and forming into a human form gradually. A white-haired girl came out of the fire and greeted Vivian and Hao Ren, “Long time no see.”

Hao Ren was shocked. “What Flame?”

“It’s White Flame!”

---

Chapter 888: The Missing Demon Hunters

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: Yuan Tong

 

Hao Ren could not help with her name, for the name was just too special–so special that he always miss-pronounced it. He and Vivian were surprised to see White Flame at this place and time. “Rumor has it that the demon hunters have been active in the territory of Ancattero. Are they you?”

“Strictly speaking, it was ‘we,’” White Flame said as she came out of a silvery white flame. Although she was holding a short silver sword in her hand, she was not hostile. The young demon hunter had no congenital hostility towards the otherworldlings and had not the time to cultivate hatred of otherworldlings in the long battle. After working together with Hao Ren and Vivian for a few times, she was not hostile towards them. “I and my mentor, and several senior demon hunters. Oh, don’t be nervous, I’m alone, they are in the town right now.”

Pierre was lost for words as he watched the woman emerging from the flame seemed to be an acquaintance of the two ‘vampires.’ He had seen more otherworldlings today than in the past few years. He felt like he had no regret even if he were to die now. Hao Ren looked at Pierre and then White Flame. “How long have you been listening?” Hao Ren asked White Flame.

“When you first started talking about the golden disc, I could have kept hiding if I wanted to, but then I thought that since I was here already, I might as well come out to say hello,” White Flame said, smiling. She swung her silver sword in a beautiful arc in the air before tucking it under her clothes. “Looks like we’re investigating the same case.”

Vivian was a little speechless. “Should I say you have self-confidence or are naive? Jumping out to say hello to otherworldlings; as a demon hunter, you’re too close to us. Your mentor would be scared to death if he found out.”

“Are you not the same likes do?” White Flame said with a relaxed smile. “We have been expecting the otherworldlings to come to investigate, but it seemed that it had taken them a long while and you’re the one coming. Even the most ancient one, Vivian Ancestor, is here.”

Vivian shook her head helplessly: “They are just wrangling in the sanctuary, none wants to come out. I have no choice but clean up the mess myself. I think you didn’t come out to say hello, do you? Let me guess; it’s about the Ancattero family.”

There was a gleam in the eyes of White Flame as she nodded her head subtly, she was here to exchange information. Then she glanced at Pierre who was nearby. “Humans shouldn’t hear what we’re going to discuss.”

Pierre looked at the demon hunter, his face, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Seeing his reaction, Hao Ren, Vivian and White Flame said spontaneously, “We didn’t mean to kill you.”

Pierre gasped for breath with his hand on the chest. He almost had another heart attack.

“Here’s my sincere advice: go home,” Hao Ren said, putting his hand on Pierre’s shoulder. “The thing we’re dealing with is out of your league; it’s unlike anything that you’ve seen. What you did all this while was like collecting scrap metals in the residential neighborhood, but now you have entered a military base stealing nukes, which is a different concept at all.”

Pierre was like a scavenger on the beach, living on the edge of the dark world picking up debris that was washed ashore from the dark abyss. The little mystery that he had managed to peek into was enough to keep him excited and yet safe. This time around, it a Cthulhu-level kind of thing that floated out of the sea. He had his one foot stuck in the dark and horrible quagmire without realizing it. Hao Ren did not want to see the spirit detective, who had given so much intelligence, caught up and killed in the conflict between the otherworldlings and the demon hunters.

The spiritual detective was hesitant; he did smell danger, but the thirst for knowledge had him reluctant to give up. He muttered, “I’m not after anything but just wanting to take a look at the legendary Solar Roulette, even if just seeing the pattern on it, it will be the highest level of mystery that I can reach as a human, and I will have no regret as far as my ancestors are concerned.”

“Do you know who will be coming in two days?” Vivian shot Pierre an indifferent glance.

“Who?”

“Those gods that once vie for the Solar Roulette as you mentioned,” Vivian said with a slightly threatening undertone. “They and their descendants are now ready to fight again in this place. Are you planning to take a look at them while they’re fighting?”

Experience counts; Hao Ren’s persuasion was nowhere near as useful as Vivian’s little threat. Learning the news of the impending clash of the mystical gods, Pierre was stunned. After a much mental struggle, the spirit detective finally sighed, realizing that this was not something that he could afford to get involved, he packed up and left.

“Well, now the human has left,” Vivian said, nodded to the White Flame. “What happened to the Ancattero family?” she asked.

“What makes you think we the demon-hunters know?” White Flame asked back. “You’re supposed to know more than we do.”

“The otherworldlings suspect that it was the demon hunter,” Hao Ren said very frankly. After all, he had no fear nor favor in the matter. “The Ancattero family has lost contact with the outside world for a month, and you just happened to appear here a month ago. The family was responsible for guarding the ancient seal, and now the monsters have escaped from the seal and caused trouble around. All evidence isn’t in your favor.”

“Demon hunters were here a month ago?” White Flame had a serious look on her face. “That was not us. My mentor and I only came to this place three days ago.” And we are here to investigate the three ‘elders’ and sixteen ‘masters’ who went missing here a month ago, and a large number of senior demon hunters who have disappeared with them.”

Hao Ren had no idea about the concept of the “elders” and “masters” among the demon hunters not did he know how big the team that White Flame was talking about was. Vivian was wide-eyed. “What did you say? So many hunters disappeared in one go?”

White Flame looked somber. “Yes. It is said that this is the first time since the end of the Mythological era that we’ve lost so many elite demon hunters at the same time. Do you suspect that we attacked the Ancattero family? Almost all of us think that Ancattero has caught our elders and masters.”

Hao Ren finally realized that things were far more severe than he expected. He was wide-eyed. “Then do you know about the Shade of Chaos?”

“Of course we know,” White Flame replied, nodding her head. “The demon hunter organization is not as ignorant as you think. We keep more historical data than the otherworldlings do. We know the legend of the Shade of Chaos, and the threat of those shadows pose. We also know that the Ancattero family is guarding the seal. It is because of this that the demon hunters have tried not to get in conflict with Ancattero. They’re peaceful hermits and have never conflicted with us. If not for the influence of the innate hostility, the demon hunter would not have enmity with these people. We are not crazy.”

“Oh, this is a bit like the situation of the sirens,” Hao Ren said, nodding suddenly. “Nevertheless, your attitude has raised the suspicion that the Ancattero family is colluding with the demon hunters.”

“I am afraid that this is not entirely wrong,” White Flame said, laughing as she spread her hand. “Though there is no formal covenant, after all these years of mutual restraint, both sides do have a tacit understanding. The incident is bizarre this time.”

“Why did so many demon hunters came to the Ancattero territory suddenly a month ago? Since demon hunters and the Ancattero family have no hostility, they didn’t come looking for a fight, did they?” Hao Ren asked.

“As I said earlier, the Ancattero family has been maintaining minimal contact with the demon hunters, so there was bound to be occasional contact. Something strange happened a month,” White Fire said calmly, and what she revealed was nothing short of shocking. “A group of demon hunters led by the Elder Amtura suddenly gathered in the territory of the Ancattero family, but they did not inform the Council of Elders. Their actions shocked everyone, and then they disappeared. We found the letter left by Amtura at the meeting place of this battle group. The letter mentioned that three elders had suddenly received a revelation from the bloodline, that they had discovered the major secret behind the innate hostility, and this secret was hidden in the Ancattero family. They also mentioned that they received an invitation from the Ancattero family patriarch, who also got the same ‘revelation.’ So the three elders came to this place with a whole battle group without informing the Council of Elders, and then the rest is history. We were ordered to find Amtura, but instead, we saw some strange power had blocked Ancattero territory. It looks like you haven’t seen the path to the secret realm.”

After hearing what White Flame said, Hao Ren could only think of one thing:

It looks like this was another significant incident again.

Chapter 889: Before the Shade

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

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.

---

Chapter 890: Meeting Up with Wayne

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

 

It was remarkably calm for two days, so quiet so that no one would believe that several mighty demon hunters were lurking around in this town. Both Hao Ren and Vivian were concerned about the activity of the demon hunters. Lily had been worried that the demon hunters might find the entrance to the Ancattero mysterious realm before they did, that the demon hunters might destroy the clues and seal that locked up the Shade of Chaos. That was what Hao Ren was worried about. Two days had passed, the MDT had found nothing unusual. Lack of news might indicate that the demon hunters had not found a way to enter the mysterious realm.

Hao Ren had no idea how the demon hunters were going to open the entrance of the secret realm without a guide. Judging from the quiet situation of the demon hunters since their arrival a few days ago, Hao Ren knew that the demon hunters had not cracked the blockade of the Golden Manor and he did not have to worry that the demon hunters would get ahead of them.

For two days, Hao Ren let the MDT use various high-tech means to find the entrance to the Ancattero mysterious realm. It followed the sunlight clue that the spiritual detective said but to no avail. Without knowing the capabilities of the Ancattero family, finding the mysterious realm was no different from finding a needle in a haystack. No doubt, the MDT was powerful, but it was powerless if it did not know what to look for in the first place.

Vivian and Y’zaks had gone out checking out the town. Though the signs were very subtle, for a super ancient otherworldling and the most powerful demon in history, it was not difficult for them to sense that. Vivian knew that the demon hunters must have also detected their arrival as she smelt some very subtle magic power in the air. It was the snooping and questioning signals in some hidden corners. These supernatural powers originated the demon hunters but were not powerful enough to cause conflict.

As she said before: demon hunters of Hasse’s generation knew the drill; they chose the safest way to get the message across when they sensed the arrival of the Countess of the Crimson Moon. They maintained a proper monitoring distance, which would not irritate the Countess while conveying their warning and alert signals.

In response, Vivian had also left behind her runes, which read “Do not bother me – temporarily.”

It was a subtle and peculiar confrontation. Both sides knew each other’s existence but kept a distance. The younger generation of the demon hunters and otherworldlings might find it difficult to understand and learn this complex mode of communication. Only the older generation like Vivian and Hasse had this tacit understanding.

Ordinary folks probably would not understand how two rivaling camps could get along with each other, but if they realized the fact that the war had lasted for 10,000 years, then whatever transpired would not be surprising anymore.

It was the time where Wayne Walter had agreed to come. Hao Ren and his team were waiting at the rendezvous point just outside the town. Lily looked a little impatient. She had been like that ever since she learned that the demon hunters were active in the town. “Why would Wayne need two days to come here? He should have known that the demon hunters are here too. He is wasting his time. The demon hunters might get ahead of us.”

“He said he needed time to prepare the tools that he needed to gain access to mysterious Ancattero’s secret realm,” Vivian said, rolling her eyes. Wayne had told them before, but Lily was busy chewing bones and did not hear it at that time. “It requires special items to unlock once Ancattero mysterious realm is closed. Wayne’s family did keep such items but were depleted when they sent their investigators here earlier. That’s was why he had to remake them.”

“Oh,” Lily acknowledged that and continued to gaze at the empty field. “He is still not coming. He is late for many hours.”

As soon as Lily’s voice trailed off, a calm and graceful male voice was heard. “I’ve been getting things done as fast as I could, but looks like I’ve kept you waiting.”

Hao Ren looked into where the voice came from and saw Wayne Walter, face pale, coming toward them. The vampire patriarch was wearing a black windbreaker and a wide-brimmed hat, covering him from head to toe. Surprisingly, following behind Wayne was not the guide that Hao Ren was expecting.

As Wayne came closer, Vivian said, “It’s okay. You’ve just arrived at the right time.”

Lily immediately yelled. “Haven’t you checked the watch? He is late!”

Vivian looked at Lily with a blank expression. “The next time you go to a foreign country, check the time zone and adjust the time accordingly. Your cellist still showing Beijing time, mind you.”

Lily was silent.

Hao Ren greeted Hesperides and asked Wayne curiously: “Where are the guides? Just the two of you?”

“I am the guide,” Wayne said. His pale face lacked expression. “After much deliberation, I decided to come as it’s not like I could always have the opportunity to meet the Countess of the Crimson Moon. I’ve been living in the comfort zone for too long, and it’s time to come out to have some fun, after all, the guards in the family could handle the Shade of Chaos.”

Hao Ren squinted the gentle vampire patriarch. “Oh?”

He distinctly remembered how the vampire patriarch was dragging his feet with other old fags at the Athens’ sanctuary. After knowing that the demon hunters were gathering in this place, he was as reluctant to come to this place as other people. Now, he sounded suspicious when he suddenly changed his tone.”

Sure enough, Wayne let out a smile. “I’m just polite,” he said coldly.

Vivian’s brows knit together. “Do you know that the Ancattero family has a divine artifact?”

“The Solar Roulette,” Wayne replied, not hiding anything in front of Vivian. “I didn’t know this thing until recently. It seems to be the key to sealing the Shade of Chaos. I want to see what it is.”

“Why do you still want to get the Solar Roulette when you know it’s the key to sealing the Shade of Chaos?” Vivian shook her head in disappointment. “Didn’t your father teach you well?”

“No, my father taught me well so that greed would not blind me,” Wayne said, laughing. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so honest with you. I want to see the powerful relics left behind by our great ancestors from the Mythological era. If you can re-seal the Shade of Chaos this time, the Solar Roulette may disappear from the eyes of the world again. I want to witness the ancient artifact myself before it’s gone again.”

Vivian nodded in a very subtle way. “Well, that’s good of you since you know. As far as I know, the Solar Roulette had probably caused a few wars between several families of gods in the ancient times. Its allure might be bigger than you think. If you can’t hold back the temptation, I will have to teach you on behalf of your father.”

After Wayne reiterated his pledge, Vivian looked at his old friend. “Hey, Hesperides, you are–”

“I’m representative and witness of the Athens’ Sanctuary,” Hesperides said with much enthusiasm. “You shouldn’t possibly think that re-sealing the Shade of Chaos is a trivial matter, should you? If you fail, someone has got to go back and inform everyone to take refuge. Hessiana had wanted to come, but knowing how you feel toward her, I had tied up the little girl.”

Vivian was delighted instantly. “You’re my true friend!”

“You may want to cheer your friendship when you’re back at home.” Hao Ren cut in. “Hesperides, you will meet your old friend here.”

“Old friend?” Hesperides looked confused.

“It’s Hasse,” Hao Ren said, “the one who bored a hole in your head.”

Hesperides was stunned and touched her forehead instinctively. Hao Ren had repaired the wound that had been bothering Hesperides for thousands of years with industrial machine tools, but the pain and hatred in the heart of the nymph of the evening had never gone. Her expression changed rapidly, and finally, Vivian held her hand. “Still thinking of revenge?”

“Phew–” Hesperides let out a sigh. “I hold no grudge now. I was just a bit of a surprise to hear the name suddenly. So demon hunters are active in this place?” she asked.

Vivian nodded and said in a low voice, “The demon hunter has also met with trouble. Things have become very complicated. Wayne, bring your props and set off to the entrance of the secret realm now. Let us talk while we’re on the way.”