The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-131

Chapter 131: A Thrilling New Discovery

The legend about the violation of a goddess by the Ancient Magic Civilization and its end aroused Hao Ren’s interest. He never doubted its truth. He always believed that all legends were worthy of study even if they might be severely distorted after many generations. Even myths were the results of inspired ancient people. No matter how mysterious the legends appeared to be, there had to be many living, unusual creatures in history that became the inspiration for such stories. One such example was Odin, whom Vivian knew…

For this reason, he believed that the ancient civilization did exist in The Plane of Dreams. The talking wolves, whose existence defied the theory of evolution might have had something to do with the experiment of biological alteration. Nevertheless, he had reservations about the theory of the goddess’ condemnation of the world.

He was not sure if the ancient civilization could be of any help in his quest for the secret of The Plane of Dreams.

Hao Ren and his MDT were having a telepathic discussion—it was a fast and discreet way of communication. “I remember Raven 12345 once said, The Plane of Dreams and the real world evolve concurrently. This also means that time in both worlds are in sync with each other. If there really was a great disaster that happened here in the past, in theory, we should be able to find evidence of it at the same time spot on Earth where the disaster happened. If we could do that, we might be able to establish the mirroring relationship between The Plane of Dreams and the real world.”

“A major disaster on earth 10 thousand years ago?” The MDT searched its database. “Humans walked on two feet. Werewolves and vampires were in a fight. Odin’s cousin ran away with a cripple. Caesar, a demon hunter, cooked Fenrir’s brother-in-law as dinner. A small meteorite struck near the equator and later became the source of iron for a primitive tribe. The rest are just trivial.”

“Whoa, you’ve got load of junk in there,” said Hao Ren.

“In case you didn’t know, it was Madam Raven who installed this database. God knows where the hell she downloaded such pirated junk from.” The MDT buck-passed it entirely. “So, it was silly of you to discuss serious topics of history with me.”

“…Maybe I should ask Vivian when I get back home. She may know a thing or two about what happened back then.”

“Are you so sure things that happened in The Plane of Dreams mirror those on Earth?” The MDT was curious because Hao Ren was so keen and confident this time. “You used to be a slowpoke, you know?”

“Not so much, just my hunch.” Hao Ren told it telepathically. “Raven 12345 used to say that The Plane of Dreams and the real world mirror each other. But, I’m not sure how it works. If a major event like the destruction of an ancient civilization here didn’t affect the earth, then maybe I’ve misunderstood Raven 12345.”

The MDT thought for a second. It realized that this thing was none of its business. So, it threw a line. “I am just a PDA.” It then went into hibernation mode. Becky and the alpha wolf stared at each other for a while before Becky poked Hao Ren with the hilt of her blade. “Are you leaving? Or would you like to catch up on old times with your wolfy friends? Maybe you can find a human settlement with their help too.”

“No, I’m not going to the human settlement.” The alpha wolf stepped back. “You guys eat anything under the sun. I’m not ready to be your next meal yet.”

Hao Ren looked at Becky with a shrug and said, “I’m afraid I have to bother you.”

Then, Hao Ren shifted his attention to the large bag Becky was carrying. “You’ve got to thank me for that.”

“Oh yeah, you remind me of something!” Becky opened the bag and was about to give some of her prize to Hao Ren. “Fair trade. That’s how a mercenary is. We’ll split the reward. By the way, your fighting skill was really unconventional. It’s my first time meeting a battlemage. Did you get any brain damage after the fall?.”

Hao Ren was careless to correct her bigoted misunderstanding. He just waved his hand frantically. “I’m not interested in your bone lamellae. Why don’t you be my guide in lieu of the reward? By the way, I need the music box back.”

Hao Ren had thought all of it out well. The MDT would come back on its own. He knew it. He was just using the MDT as a bait although it was out of desperation initially. Now, he could use a bunch of bone lamella that he was not interested in to redeem his battered, little conscience. But, Becky’s stubbornness would not allow Hao Ren the chance. “No, I want your music box!”

“You better think twice. Other than playing some music, this thing has no other use. Half a bag of bone lamellae is worth a lot more than that.”

“I don’t think so. Your music box flies!” Becky was very insistent. “When it comes to pretty stuff, rationale isn’t necessary!”

The alpha suddenly interjected with a soft voice, “You guys carry on. I’m going out hunting with my pups. It’s kind of weird to see you guys haggling over some wolf body parts—”

“I thought you didn’t give a sh*t about wolves of lower intelligence?” Hao Ren was bewildered. If he had known that the alpha wolf minded, he would have gone somewhere else with Becky. “And mind you, you guys actually killed more of these wolves than Becky did.”

“I can’t help it. They look too similar. And you’d definitely throw up when you see them eating humans.” The alpha wolf mumbled before turning and howling at its pack. He said good bye to Hao Ren before disappearing into the distance with its pack.

“Interesting species,” The MDT said to Hao Ren in his mind. “Sandwiched between animal and human, sharing the ideologies from both worlds. They are essentially wolves with human brains and wisdom. So, you guys using those wolf bones as bargaining chips really disturbed them.”

“It’s my fault. I should have been more considerate.” Hao Ren felt sorry. “But, I couldn’t help it. He spoke the human language so fluently that I forgot it’s just a wolf.”

“This is inevitable when one lives with monster chicks for too long.”

Hao Ren was at a lost for words.

In the end, Becky was still adamant in keeping his music box. She shoved half of the bone lamellae to Hao Ren. Sensing that it was impossible to convince the wonder woman, Hao Ren gave in.

If he could meet her again the next time he entered The Plane of Dreams, he would definitely bring her a real music box…

The two unusual travel partners set out on their journey once again. It was smooth sailing all the way—maybe the alpha wolf had cleared the way ahead for them. This is because Hao Ren occasionally sighted what looked like the silhouette of the alpha wolf when they passed over the top of some grass mounds. Soon, the silhouette of a town appeared on the horizon.

“That’s Lamberg.” Becky raised her whip and pointed towards the far distance over the steppe. “Although it’s just a town, it’s big. And it has got a town wall!”

As they came closer, a clear view of Lamberg was within sight. Hao Ren saw the town wall—greyish white, not of stone but of some artificial material. There were towers and outposts too, purportedly used as defense against animals or any other enemies. As he was standing on a hill, the happenings in the town was within his view. The town was well organized. Most buildings were two stories and below. Houses were square and their slanting tops faced southeast in unison. This was probably the local buildings’ unique feature. Most of the taller buildings were situated at the center of the town. Among them, one with a pointed top decorated with stained glass attracted his attention. However, it was not the best time to ask about it so he kept mum.

The town seemed to be near yet it was not. The open grassland created an illusion of proximity. In fact, it took the two of them quite a while before they arrived at the town wall. As they arrived at the entrance, Hao Ren suddenly heard a warning from the MDT. “Beware, you’re going to wake up real soon.”

“Just hold on a little longer. Please let Y’zaks and Nangong Wuyue hang on there. In the meantime, I’ll try to keep my eyes closed.” As he was saying this, the first thing he noticed was his senses becoming less responsive as if his body’s connection with The Plane of Dreams was starting to crumble.

“Here we are.” Becky held Hao Ren and they both hopped down from the horse. “You want me to walk you around?”

“If you are willing.” Hao Ren replied vaguely. He felt that Becky was not being sincere. Becky talked with the sentries like they had known each other for a long time while a youngster stared curiously at him—he was an outsider with weird attire.

Hao Ren tried to keep his eyes open for as long as he could to get as much information as possible before he fell out of The Plane of Dreams. Unfortunately, he could already hear the sound of waves splashing against the shore. He could also hear Nangong Wuyue singing her strange songs. His vision slowly faded and became blurry…

He made the best out of the last few minutes he had. He turned his head and saw that the outer walls of the houses were decorated with patterns. The patterns were extremely familiar.

They were runes.

A scream was heard. Becky turned around and found the strange magician gone. All that was left was, half a bag of wolf bone lamellae, which she had given to Hao Ren earlier.

“It can’t be! He ran away for the sake of a music box?” Becky’s jaw dropped to the ground. “Did I force him to? No. His brain must have gone kaput after the fall.”