The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-157

Chapter 157: The Nangongs’ Past

In the living room, Nangong Wuyue and Nangong Sanba sat on the couch while the rest were directly opposite them. The atmosphere felt a bit like a court proceeding. It was awkward.

However, the most awkward thing was the one with the flashy name, Nangong Sanba…

“Okay, laugh all you want.” Nangong Sanba sighed. He noticed the expression on their faces. Y’zaks had no clue what was going on because he was from a foreign world. “It’s not the first time I wanted to change my name.”

“It’s your real name, huh?” Hao Ren tactfully expressed his surprise. “It doesn’t matter what name you’ve got. If you look on the internet, you’ll find tons of people with even funnier names like Hammer Wang, Dog Egg Lee and etc. But, I’ve never heard any demon hunter with this name.”

Of course, he did not express all this thoughts: while Nangong Wuyue had a beautiful name—poetic as well as elegant, her brother’s name was the anti-climactic Nangong Sanba. Being a demon hunter, he had to be one of the dark forces’ major bosses. Antagonists always had bossy and bombastic names. Yet, this guy before him was a Sanba or a fool! The name suggested that he would not make a good demon hunter—it was like a demon with ‘noble’ in its name.

However, he kept the thought to himself; he did not want to further upset Nangong Sanba and also Y’zaks about his not-so-happy past.

“It was my mom,” said Nangong Wuyue as she helplessly glanced at her brother. “She wasn’t an educated woman. She named us based on the month we were born. My brother was born on 8th of March so, she named him Nangong Sanba (Sanba—’three eight’ literally means 8th of March in Chinese but, it also carries another connotation: foolish). As I was born in the middle of May the following year, she wanted to name me Nangong Wuyue Shiwu (Wuyue Shiwu means 15th of May in Chinese) but, it sounded too wordy so, she decided to simplify it to Nangong Wuyue… It’s that simple.”

Hao Ren glanced at Nangong Sanba. “Hey…’Sanba’ isn’t really a bad word after all. But, it’s weird to call a master like you ‘Sanba’. You can always change your name. Maybe you should.”

Nangong Sanba’s face turned solemn. “We were born to our parents, and we will live with our given names. How could I go against the wishes of our parents? When I said I wanted to change my name, it was just a thought. I’d never do it.”

Hao Ren was astounded. He looked at the demon hunter and thought: a demon hunter should have a good name that matched his stature. A good name would go a long way, and was so much cooler than the crap he had just uttered.

“My brother’s as stubborn as a mule.” Nangong Wuyue let out a sigh as she said, “Relax, Sister Vivian. My brother isn’t like other demon hunters. He wouldn’t find trouble with you because he’s no match for any of you after all, except Rollie. Oh, speaking of which, Rollie hasn’t slept yet.”

The black and white cat was meandering around the living room when it heard its name being mentioned. It halted in its step, meowed and stared suspiciously at Nangong Sanba as if it was studying the new tenant. Vivian waved and signaled the cat to come to her. She cuddled and caressed it in her arms. At the same time, she looked up and glanced at Nangong Wuyue. “Is it because he’s a mixed-blood so, he doesn’t possess the full ability of a demon hunter?”

During their trip to England, Nangong Sanba was already known to them as a half-baked demon hunter. Vivian presumed that he was a normal person with some demon-hunter knowledge. However, Vivian was wrong. He was the real deal albeit a mixed-blood demon hunter.

“Lineage is one thing. Another reason is, there was a break in inheritance during my dad’s time.” Nangong Wuyue was not hiding her past anymore. She bared it all. “As you may have already known, demon hunters and humans are different. They’re different yet, they share similarities. Demon hunters live as long as the other-kind. They marry only their own kind. Newly-born demon hunters receive the gift and injection of power from their parents.. Then, they start to train under their parents and fight weaker evil spirits as well as demons on their own when they turn 12. When they become 16, they leave their parents and learn from other senior demon hunters for a further three to five years. They are introduced to other demon hunters at the same time. After that, they are finally integrated into the community, recognized and accepted as one of their own. This was always the case up to my grandparents’ generation.”

“But, when it came to my dad’s generation, something went wrong: both my grandparents passed away in an accident when my dad was just 13 years old. In that same year, an organized revolt of the other-kind erupted in Asia. The demon hunter community was in chaos. My dad was still a child and before he was even introduced to the other seniors, he was separated from them, losing all contact with the demon hunter community.”

Vivian nodded as if she was in deep thought. “Thirteen years old… Still a rookie, not very obstinate yet. He probably doesn’t have a strong prejudice against the other-kind. A demon hunter is after all also a creature with feelings and emotions.”

With her arms open, Nangong Wuyue said, “So, that’s the story. From my dad’s generation onwards, we’ve had zero contact with the demon hunter community. After living as a vagrant for a few years, my dad met my mom. Then, ‘something’ happened and they were together.”

Once Nangong Wuyue began talking, the floodgates opened and she let out everything about her past; good and bad. Perhaps, she felt better this way after she hid her past previously. Although Hao Ren did not mind, Nangong Wuyue obviously took it to heart.

Vivian finally understood all about the unique couple and the half-baked demon hunter: he was not just a mixed-blood but, he also did not have a complete set of abilities.

“The inheritance was broken since my father’s time.” Nangong Sanba smiled awkwardly. “After my mom and dad married, contacting the demon hunter community became a taboo. They lived a hermit’s life in the forest to avoid being detected by other demon hunters or the other-kind. I learned my skills from my dad. The most complete set of skills he taught me were runes and these—”

As he said that, he flipped his jacket open and revealed a small crossbow, some strange blades, bottles of drugs, wooden sticks, etc., all hidden inside. “Sorcery props. These were the things my dad was good at. I can make these things but, I’m not familiar with their usage. Most props need mind power to work. I never learned it because dad didn’t know how to teach it to me.”

“What do you think of the other-kind?” It was one of the subjects Vivian felt should be made clear upfront.

“I’d be faking it if I told you I’m a lover of peace, who’d like to see a united world.” Nangong Sanba extended his arms. “But, let me tell you frankly, I don’t see the other-kind as enemies unless they come to me looking for trouble first.”

There were many things Hao Ren still did not understood about the lone demon hunter. “Are you in contact with other demon hunters? You’ve been alone all this while? Do they know your existence?”

“Of course, I’m alone. To be honest, I don’t feel a thing about those pure-blood demon hunters. I know who I am—they’ll start coming to me looking for trouble if I get myself exposed,” said Nangong Sanba as he nodded. “The demon hunter fraternity is just a loosely organized community now. Although they’re slightly more close-knitted than the other-kind, it’s out of convenience for their call to hunt down ‘demons’. Other than that, they always act alone like a solo hunter. So, a lone-wolf demon hunter like me won’t stand out. Even if we bump into each other, I’d just look like any other demon hunter; when questioned, I always pretend that I’m from another zone, and I’m on a mission,” said Nangong Sanba as he he smiled. “They never suspect their own kind.”

Hao Ren nodded as if his doubts had been cleared up. But somehow, he felt that the Nangongs were still hiding something.

Vivian seemed to have the same thought. “You two aren’t wandering around just for the purpose of sightseeing, aren’t you?”