The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-144

Chapter 144: A Little New Member

The little mermaid cheekily shot a jet of water right on his face; boiling water.

Hao Ren recoiled in shock with a loud, “Yikes!”. Thank goodness however, his body was previously strengthened (face included) and aside from the scare as well as a slight sting, there were no signs of scalding. He stared blankly at the mermaid as it swam in the boiling pot of water. It took him a good while before something clicked. The egg had hatched! It hatched after Lily put it to boil…

You really cannot make assumptions about these alien life forms.

Lily leapt up curiously to have a look too. Her eyes widened immediately but, her husky-brain took some time before it came to a conclusion. “…Oh… I guess I can’t eat that now…”

The little mermaid could not understand what Hao Ren and Lily were saying. It only stared at the world outside the pot curiously (For the mermaid, the world only comprised of a ceiling and the two big faces it saw). It was a beautiful thing; its tail was a shade of pale red, and its hair was hazelnut brown. Its eyes were particularly big, and a curious as well as witty glint shone from them. Hao Ren was not sure if all mermaids were like this, that they would look like a teenager once they hatched. Only her size itself was dimunitive, about half a foot; like a mini Wuyue when she was in Siren form. The little bugger floated face up in the pot. Before long, it seemed like she was bored and with a mighty leap (mighty for her size), she jumped out of the pot and directly onto the stove.

Hao Ren was caught by surprise but thankfully, he reacted in time to catch the little bugger using the pot cover. The little mermaid sat there as she stared at Hao Ren again. After that, she started making a weird gurgling noise. Then, she slapped her tail against the pot’s cover. Hao Ren prodded the mermaid’s tail in response, and she calmed down. It appeared like she was testing if that would catch Hao Ren’s attention.

“What’s that?” Lily asked as she sniffed the mermaid, her tail wagging. She then gave the little mermaid’s tail a quick lick. “I did put it to boil for a while but, it doesn’t seem to be cooked… Where did you find this, Mr. Landlord?”

“Quiet.” Hao Ren pushed Lily away. “This is our new tenant. I brought her back as an egg, from a place 800 light years away. Never thought that you putting the egg to boil would have her hatch. This world is bloody insane.”

Lily’s eyes widened as she gawped. “Wow!”

“I think…” Hao Ren thought for a bit on what he could do at that moment. He realized that the little mermaid was naked (Well, you could not see much from her six-inch frame anyway). “Let’s get her some clothes.”

Lily gave Hao Ren a weird look. Both of them soon discovered; where were they suppose to find such small clothes?

By then, the little mermaid had started to flap about again. She had realized there was more to the world than what she saw from the pot. Her boundless curiosity now extended to everything in the kitchen, including the knife rack and the lit stove. Hao Ren broke into cold sweat at her enthusiasm and quickly got Lily to bring a tub of water. He then carefully put the mermaid into the tub. He did wonder if the little thing would be alright in cool water after she hatched in boiling water. However, her ability to adapt was impressive, and she swam naturally in the tub. With this, Hao Ren brought the tub to the hall, his mind now at ease. He then asked Lily to wake Wuyue up. The siren had already been napping for a good part of the day.

“…She was hatched by being boiled?” The siren asked incredulously. “And, she was swimming in it?”

“Well, there are creatures that can survive under high temperatures in the deep ocean. Even those volcanic hot springs have microbes in them,” Hao Ren quipped. “But, I’m still amazed that she hatched after being boiled by Lily for lunch. By the way, do you have any idea how to make some clothes for her? While she’s a small one, it’s still weird seeing her naked.”

Wuyue had no idea about sewing but, she was quick with her head. She ran upstairs to her room and pulled out a sealing tape. “Let’s use this for the moment…”

“This?” Hao Ren raised an eyebrow.

“Why not? It’s just temporary anyway. Let Vivian figure it out when she gets back. I’ve never seen any vampire as good as her when it comes to housework,” Wuyue said as she brought the tape to the little mermaid. The poor thing got scared and instantly jumped back into the tub. She curled into a ball, trying to dodge it. It seemed like she did not like the white coloured tape at all. Wuyue pouted.

“Mr. Landlord, help me hold her still.”

Hao Ren extended his hand towards the little mermaid, and it was obvious that the mermaid trusted him more. She quickly hugged his thumb and would not let go. Wuyue laughed at the scene. “I guess you were the first thing she saw after she hatched. She probably thinks you’re her mother now.”

“…”

Hao Ren never thought such a cliched novel scene would become a reality for him.

As he calmed the agitated mermaid down, she finally understood that the sealing tape meant her no harm, and sat still while Wuyue rolled the tape around her twice to cover her up. By that point, she was also bored of the water tub and got out of it a moment later, flopping onto the table. As she had no legs, she could only flop forward like a seal. She used her hands to put weight onto her chest, then transferred the weight to her pelvis as she flapped her tail, pushing her forward. The way she moved was clumsy yet endearing. She also had a curious streak about her. While she was slightly afraid of her new enviroment after being moved from the kitchen to the living room, she had gotten used to it. So, she was fearlessly exploring the area.

But, you could see that she was still a baby at heart: she was very concious about where her “parents” were, and would keep turning her head to check if Hao Ren was nearby. After making a few rounds, she hopped onto Hao Ren’s palm and stopped moving. It was time to rest.

The three of them were admiring the little creature. Lily especially, stared at her for a long time. “I guess I can’t eat this but, it does look very interesting!”

Wuyue was also curiously playing with the mermaid’s tail using her pinky. “So, this is how mermaids look like when they’ve just hatched… Not sure if sirens are the same as well… I’ve heard mother say that normal sirens had also hatched from eggs, and they were tiny, tiny creatures.”

Such conversations were now common place in the household, and Hao Ren had gotten used to it. He was however in an awkward position of cradling the little mermaid. He looked to Wuyue for help. “You think we can carry it back to the tub? I can’t be cradling her all day.”

Hao Ren’s plight was not unfounded. Earlier, he had moved slightly towards the tub and the mermaid quickly threw a tantrum. She flailed her arms and tail, and growled. Her face had this “put me back there and I’ll cry” sort of look to it. Clearly, she was very attached to someone now.

“We can’t communicate like this…” Wuyue frowned. The growls that the little mermaid made were very strange. Even the implanted automatic translator could not decipher what she was saying.”

Perhaps, it was simply baby talk without any actual meaning. They did not even know what her intellectual level was. While she displayed a very strong sense of curiosity and agility, these were all inborn. They doubted a newborn mermaid was any smarter than your average infant. At most, her motor ability was much more developed.

As the three were fretting over what to do with the little mermaid, the main door creaked opened; Vivian had returned.

The vampire was carrying a basket full of vegetables and herbs. She was greeted by the sight of the trio gathered around the table, looking at something. She went to check what was going on, and just then, the mermaid jumped into Hao Ren’s shirt. Vivian caught sight of the swishing fish tail and said, “Are we having this for dinner? Let’s braise it. My specialty!”

The other three simply kept quiet.

It seemed like things were about to get more interesting from here on out.