The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-22

Chapter 22: The Midsummer’s Dream

Hao Ren got up using both his hands and feet, all the while holding onto his thigh as he mumbled to himself, “Shit, is it even possible to continue my life as a happy earthling…”

He was 100% sure that he was still relaxing and enjoying the shade outside his house, surrounded by old streets as well as lanes familiar to him for the past 20 years. The dilapidated house, potholes and cement roads were vividly within his visual field. He had only squinted slightly when the surrounding environment has changed completely.

Hao Ren found himself standing atop a vast prairie.

Overlooking the endless expanse, was only green grass as tall as his calf. The grass spread out, swayed and danced beneath his feet as the night breeze cooler than that of the city’s hit him. Hao Ren tilted his head and looked towards the sky. What he saw was something he had never seen in the city: a clear and pristine sky filled with stars so bright that the concentrated light made it possible for him to view the scene on the prairie clearly.

In the distant horizon, two silvery lights of different sizes slowly rose to the sky. A silvery halo could be seen on the edge of the bigger one – two moons!

“I knew I shouldn’t have read that many novels.” Hao Ren stared at the two moons which slowly rose up into the sky. The night was covered with stars he did not recognize (Though, he did not know many stars back on earth either). He finally jumped to his feet and exclaimed, “Did I just motherfucking travel through space?”

It was not the first time Hao Ren pinched his thigh with so much strength, he could barely walk in order to determine that he was not dreaming. What in the world was in front of him? Could you actually get thrown into a different world while cooling off by the curb? My God, not to mention, he still had two monsters at home waiting to fed!

Hao Ren’s mind was in a mess, running through countless simulations like a revolving lantern. He could think of several classic cases of inter-world travel. He then thought of the two problems back at home as well as his recently acquired identity as an agent of the Space Administration. Yet, in the end, all his thoughts and ideas just turned into a long sigh. He realized that he could not sit still and wait because he suddenly heard the howling of wolves…

Hao Ren bid a final farewell to his recliner chair and walked towards the direction of the two bright moons. He could vaguely see the silhouette of buildings in that direction. At least, it was a target he could move towards. Of course, he knew that wandering around like a headless chicken in an unfamiliar environment was not the smartest move. He was either aimlessly wasting strength or he waiting to meet with larger threats. Most importantly however, factor was the feeling that he had teleported! The process of reaching the place was unusual in itself. Waiting for someone to save him on site was practically impossible so, he thought he may as well take a look at his surroundings and decide on what to do later.

“The landing point isn’t even reliable, throwing me onto a prairie as big as this without a tree in sight. How am I supposed to survive?”

The cold night on the prairie was pressing. Hao Ren could only hold onto his arm as he walked and muttered, “Am I destined to eat grass? If I encounter poisonous grass, I’ll be dead meat. It’d be great if there was a forest. I’d be able to chop a tree and create a workbench. Then maybe, I’d be able to survive…” (Minecraft joke)

Obviously, Hao Ren was not a qualified inter-dimension traveler. A few minutes upon his arrival at an unfamiliar environment, his brain had already run wild. These were not at all the qualities displayed by a qualified inter-world traveler upon entering unfamiliar territory. One should be calm and collected as well as wise and decisive. However, he just could not control his thoughts from running amok. That would at the very least, disperse and reduce the tension plus uneasy feeling that cut right into his bone. He was just a normal person, an obscure citizen muddling through everyday life. Just three days ago, his biggest life crisis was not being able to rent out his house. Just a simple citizen, how could you expect him to calm down, become decisive and smart in such a situation?

The faint howling of wolves could be heard from a distance but then again, it could have simply been illusions caused by the great tension he felt. Hao Ren could not help but think of the werewolf with the tiny brain problem back at home. Lily could also howl like that and it definitely sounded much better. It would have been wonderful if that werewolf was there… Although her mental capacity was quite limited, it should have been enough to deal with wild wolves, right? Anyway, he did not even know whether she would be able to get along with Vivian if he did not manage to return. Both of them would have surely demolished the house. He was going to let them demolish it then, since it would no longer be related to him anyway.

So, it was with such a chaotic state of mind that Hao Ren walked on a seemingly endless prairie. His surrounding was so vast that he felt as if the scenery around him had not changed at all despite after walking for so long. If not for the reclining chair that had disappeared behind him and the guidance provided by the two bright moons ahead, he might have believed that he was just going in circles around the same spot.

The surrounding temperature gradually lowered as a windy night on a broad prairie was not something a T-shirt could hold off. At first, Hao Ren felt that the air was fresh and crisp. Yet, as time went by he had begun to miss the slightly hot and polluted air on Earth which surrounded him half an hour ago.

At that precise moment, another howl could be heard. This time, it was much closer and as clear as day. It was definitely not an illusion.

Hao Ren felt the hair on his back stand. The sixth sense that he had been harboring for the past 25 years instantly kick-started. He realized that he had unknowingly walk into a tall grass area, with grass tall enough to cover his knee. In all directions, glowing green eyes gradually appeared, like they were floating out from the darkness.

Shadows of wolves similar to ghosts gradually appeared from within the grass. Hao Ren had no idea how they were able to close the distance that much without him noticing. To be honest, he was completely petrified at that moment. He had seen this scenario before!

Lucky enough, despite being a simple and normal citizen, Hao Ren also had a calm and dependable side. He restrained his impulse to run away and scream loudly as he knew that it would only accelerate his death. Hao Ren confronted the wolf pack, thinking hard to find a way out of the situation. His mind was filled with emotions of hopelessness. He had nowhere to vent. “Can I get any unluckier? To die in this ridiculous situation, what’s up with that!?”

If only he had on him a weapon of defense. Although he knew with certainty that even if he was holding onto the Dragon Yan Yue Spear, it would still be impossible to defeat the 20 to 30 wolves in front of him. However, at least having a weapon would aid in his courage. Unfortunately, after cautiously groping all over his body for a long time, he only found a traditional Nokia… Okay, so this thing is, in a sense, a superweapon. If tied with a stick, it could even possibly become a war hammer. That aside, this was a life and death situation so, we should stop with the jokes!

The wolves of course, did not grant Hao Ren the chance to be lost in his fantasies and conjectures. As soon as he became distracted, the wolf closest to him rushed towards him without a sound. Hao Ren only saw a dark shadow hurling towards him. Its shape seemed to be different from the wolves of earth. All he could do was subconsciously block it with his arm…

“Landlord! Landlord!” An urging call came by his ear.

Hao Ren felt a sharp pain coming from his brain. The whole world suddenly became fuzzy and turned upside down. In a semi-conscious state, he opened his eyes. He saw the familiar street, old house and misty, city night sky that had close to zero stars as well as Lily’s stupid face.

Hao Ren breathed in hard. He did not manage to do this as he was rushed by the wolf. After that, he looked around drowsily. “So, does this mean I’ve returned?”

“What do you mean by return?” Lily exclaimed, poking Hao Ren’s arm before pulling him up. “Landlord, you haven’t returned to the house in half a day. The one with the wings asked me to come get you, and then I saw you lying on the floor. Oh yes, and moaning in a weird manner.”

Hao Ren’s arm was almost dislocated as he was pulled up by the mighty yet silly werewolf. Whatever the outcome, he was wide awake at that moment. He noticed that his body was fine and as he turned his head around, saw that the recliner had at some point, fallen on the floor. With that, he concluded that the unbelievably realistic ‘inter-dimensional travel’ experience was only a dream. He was not sure if wanted to cry or laugh.

However, wasn’t that dream a little too real?

“It’s alright, I just had a dream.” Hao Ren waved at Lily, slightly touched that he still had two troublemakers at home who cared about him. If only they would stop fighting each other, that would have been so much better. Just as Hao Ren waved his hand, he noticed something sticking out from the gaps of his tightly clenched fist, an aftereffect of his nightmare—a handful of black, wolf fur.

“Fuck!” Hao Ren jumped up and threw the wolf fur away as if they were burning coal.

“What the hell!?”