The Record of Unusual Creatures

Hao Ren was rooted to the spot for a long moment after the events that unfolded before his eyes: the siren was that powerful all along?     

"Phew—" Nangong Wuyue breathed a long sigh of relief, her facial expressin changing back to normal. No one could guess what was in her mind. She meandered forward and curled the sleeping child up in her tail before approaching Hao Ren. "I'm done. The child must have been drugged. Let's get some fresh air outside, the child will be fine."     

Hao Ren glanced at the little child to find that it was a girl. He could not tell its gender earlier because she was covered in dirt and ragged clothing. He turned to look at situation in the stone chamber, and was disappointed to find no survivors. After exhausting their vitality and magical power, the cult followers had become a pool of mud. Some on the other hand, were turned into ashes by Nangong Wuyue's strange ability. It appeared that normal methods did not work in capturing them.     

The two of them searched the chamber carefully, trying to find any religious texts related to the cult. But, they came up with nothing. Hao Ren searched the clothing items left behind by the followers. Judging from their clothing, some of them were probably peasants, some were merchants, while some were professional soldiers and mercenaries. They were a mixture of the rich and poor, and they were likely residents of Leyton or a nearby area. Hao Ren pulled out a small pendant from a pool of mud. The pendant probably belonged to one of the followers. He looked at the pendant, then exclaimed in shock. "A Royal Knight?"     

There were Royal Knights among the cult members? Who was behind the cult?     

Nangong Wuyue also found something. She saw a piece of inner clothing with the heraldry of the Disciples of Glory. "It's the Disciples of Glory!"     

Hao Ren quickly took a gander. He was certain that the heraldry belonged to a clergy. He searched the clothing, which was covered in ashes. This time he found a booklet. He opened and read it.     

Written in the booklet were the ramblings of a delirious man printed on paper. Hao Ren knitted her brows together. The writings were very disorganised and the contents made him sick. It sang praises of some goddess for her greatness and wisdom. There was also the incessant accusation of the Disciples of Glory stealing the power of the true God as well as their hypocrisy and sins. Hao Ren could not help but wonder how such a mundane booklet could have brainwashed these people. He found it hilarious at best.     

But as hilarious as it was, the things written in the booklet had gotten hold of people's minds. Hao Ren recalled the moment he shared a vision with the gigantic brain, and he made a connection with the Disciples of Glory as well as the cult. The key to decipher the relationship between the three parties most likely lay in the pages of the booklet. He allowed the MDT to scan and record the contents of the booklet before shoving it inside his Dimensional Pocket. He wanted to pass it to the "expert" once he reached Leyton.     

He knew as a stranger, he could not get to the bottom of the mystery without landing himself in some sort of trouble. But, it would be a different story if the Disciples of Glory or the knights themselves investigated the matter.     

They left the cavern after finding no further clues. Outside, the night was still dark. It was three hours before sunrise. Dark clouds were gathered in the sky and rain was about to fall at any moment. Nangong Wuyue trudged behind Hao Ren, deep in thought, while little girl was still curled up in her tail. Hao Ren was engrossed with the thought of the gigantic brain. After a moment of silence, he decided not to delve on the thought any further. He turned his eyes to Nangong Wuyue and said to her, "I didn't know you were so powerful!"     

Nangong Wuyue was not flattered. Her face did not look good. She twisted her mouth and said, "I'm still trying to pull myself together."     

Hao Ren was curious. He looked at her and asked, "Pull yourself together? What happened."     

The siren maiden scratched her head. She was reluctant, but she still told him in the end. "I guess you've heard that sirens are incapable of dying, haven't you?"     

Hao Ren nodded. He had heard it from Vivian a long time ago.     

"It's not that sirens are incapable of dying. It's just that we can resurrect ourselves indefinitely." Nangong Wuyue pointed at herself. "You see, my body's made of water. As long as there's water, we can resurrect indefinitely. It's true that I'm not good at fighting. What you just saw wasn't actually a fighting technique, but a resurrection—by borrowing the followers' body fluid.     

Hao Ren was terror-stricken.     

"I don't usually do it," Nangong Wuyue said as though she was recalling a painful memory. "It's cruel. You know I'm too soft-hearted and I sometimes screw things up. As you know, I'm a half-siren with not so perfect talents. During a resurrection, sirens have to be highly focused in choosing the venue of their resurrection, but I couldn't always focus—sometimes, I would die in a muddle..."     

Hao Ren was startled by what she said. "In a muddle? How could it be? What would happen then?"     

"I wouldn't be able to choose where to resurrect of course," Nangong Wuyue said as she stuck out her tongue. My body would reform in a random place with high moisture content. It could be anywhere on the planet. One time, I was hit by a train while I was doing some exploring. I was dead, but when I woke up, I found myself floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And, it took me nearly two months to get back to land."     

Hao Ren's eyebrows began to twitch. "Is that how slow you swam?"     

Nangong Wuyue sighed. "I got caught up in a strong ocean current and lost my way. And, you know I've never been to the ocean..."     

Hao Ren was speechless, thinking to himself that every monster maiden had her own hidden, peculiar side. No wonder Nangong Wuyue was afraid of figthing—she truly could not fight. Her only way to "win" a fight was to consume her enemy with her own death and resurrect with the possibility of ending up somewhere halfway around the globe. Hao Ren felt sorry for her. He said, "I'm sorry, you were hurt. I should've protected you."     

"That's okay, really. In fact sirens are inherently amorphous. Let's just say that my formshift failed and my body crumbled." Nangong Wuyue waved her hand, indicating that she did not mind. "And, thanks for killing the floating meatball. What was that thing, by the way?"     

"Hell, God knows!" Hao Ren shrugged.     

Dark clouds had completely filled the sky by then. Thunder began to sound its displeasure and it was going to rain at any second. Hao Ren felt a little embarrassed and he smiled wryly. "Okay, I guess even God has no clue."     

The two of them did not want to waste any more time. They got back to Leyton immediately via teleportation. They did not know what to do with the little girl they had just saved, so they brought her back to their place.     

Vivian, Lily and Y'zaks were back too. All members of the scout team were back.     

The first thing Lily did when she saw Hao Ren was jump up and down excitedly. She spun her tail, creating a little whirlwind. "Landlord, we found something."     

Vivian quickly kept the cups and glasses on the table. Then, she grabbed Lily's tail and said, "Can't you behave yourself?"     

Lily held Hao Ren's hand, licking it as if she was seeking Hao Ren's approval. "We found a tentacle underground, which Battie and I banged for almost 300 rounds. Of course, I did most of the work."     

Vivian shot Lily a sideways glance. "Yeah, you mostly ran with your tail between your legs."     

Cold sweat trickled down Hao Ren's forehead/ The way Lily spoke always left people with too much lewd imagination...     

In the end, it was Vivian who recounted the encounter. She added, "We went into the Gnarled Grove just to get confirmation. The tentacle is indeed part of its root system. But, the trees in the forest seem to be normal and have no sensing capability."     

"Root system of the Gnarled Grove?" Hao Ren was shocked. He thought the things he saw were thrilling enough. Little did he expect Lily and Vivian to bump into something even more incredible. "Its roots are coming to the surface?"     

Squatting on a chair and wagging her tail, Lily said, "Not necessarily. It's just a tentacle. It probably just has an abnormal growth pattern."     

Hao Ren found the opinion to be very characteristically Lily—f*cking dumb.     

So, it seemed that the water in the Beinz area was much deeper than they had imagined.