The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-401

Chapter 401: A Gift

After all said and done, Lanina had to sleep in the same room with Vivian. There were simply no rooms left to accommodate the demon, and Vivian’s room had space. Hao Ren was actually OK to sleep together with the succubus, but that will probably get him murdered…

Vivian reluctantly accepted the arrangement after Lanina assured her that she was not a lesbian. It took a while before the vampire decided to trust her. Besides, if Lanina was a true blue lesbian succubus, she’d already struck by now… and going by how a succubus operate, sleeping in the same room or not did not actually matter.

Hao Ren thought that Y’zaks probably sucked at being a father figure to Lanina that he didn’t even know the orientation of the succubus he adopted. Then again… trying do dig your own step-daughter’s sexual orientation as probably NOT something a father should do. Forget it, logic does not hold water in situations like this. In fact, it is impossible to find someone with an intact worldview in this household any more. Hao Ren had long gave up trying to figure out the stories of his tenants for fear of being driven insane.

The next morning, Hao Ren was not woken by his cat, nor his beloved daughter: The moment he open his eyes a vicious look face was staring at him, and his heart almost stopped beating. The big face even spoke: “You’re awake? Lets go then. We need to speak with the Goddess….”

Hao Ren moved sideways to avoid Y’zaks intense gaze as he leapt out from his bed. Pointing at the man whose face could force a surrender of a city, “Are you nuts?! You nearly killed me with that face of yours early in the morning!”

Y’zaks tossed Hao Ren his clothes and with a nonplussed look he said, “I’ll wait for you outside. Lets go meet the goddess.”

Hao Ren knew that Y’zaks’ mind was totally occupied by the thoughts of his daughter surviving and it was impossible to talk sense into someone that determined. Hao Ren quickly changed as he mumbmed. “It was all peaceful yesterday….Wait, let me have my breakfast first! Don’t give me that look! It’s not like the Goddess will run away, and it will take time to apply for the World Gate’s navigation permit.”

Y’zaks nodded as he left the room.

Vivian had just laid breakfast out on the table when Hao Ren got out of his room. Rollie was already waiting to be fed by the table. Lil Pea was on Rollie’s head and reacted happily the moment she saw Hao Ren stepped out his room. She waved excitedly at him with her tail slapping the cat’s head. It was a subconcious action and Rollie could only endure the hits, fearing that if it did not abide by the wishes of the fish it’ll get beaten even more…

Hao Ren looked at the duo and suddenly became envious of the cat. He couldn’t even stay at home for the New Year and had to go on harrowing interdimensional adventures. Rollie on the other hand had an almost sedantary yet regimented lifestyle, with a side of being beaten by Lil Pea; so, aside from a bruised pride there was little to be worried about…

Lanina had fully calmed down after the initial elation of seeing Y’zaks again and she was now seated quietly by the table awaiting orders. Her at-attention posture was so different from what you’d expect of an alluring succubus. She was still in her slightly worn armored bodysuit that emphasised her well-propotioned body. Vivian had thought to look for a change of clothes for the succubus but none of the ladies at home could match her voluptous proportions. After looking around for a bit, she had nothing to show but for the wounded pride of the ladies at home.

Hao Ren stood before the dining table, his face bore the pride of the head of the household. He bend down to pick up Lil Pea and cleared his throat to give his first speech on the first day of the Chinese New Year. Before he could even speak, Vivian had pre-empted him, “Buns or Pastries?”

Hao Ren coughed drily. “Buns will do, Buns…”

It seems like that super serious demeanour really doesn’t suit him at all.

The four vajras had already left the house early in the morning but the table was still filled with people. Almost like a happy reunion dinner of sorts. Lanina stared in amazement at the scene before her, especially at Y’zaks who was chomping down a big bowl of rice that she had not touched her chopsticks after a good while. Hao Ren noticed her and asked as he fed Lil Pea a small sheet of paper. “Not used to human food?”

“Uh.. it’s not that…” Lanina was at lost of words. The atmosphere was just too different from what she had expected. She looked at Y’zaks, “My lord, had you been living here since you disappeared?”

“Yes.” Y’zaks looked up to respond. “Why? Anything wrong?”

Lanina shook her head, “Nothing… it has… been good…”

“If that’s the case, then quickly eat. We’ll be reporting to the Goddess once we’re done with our meal.” Hao Ren said as he tossed Rollie a couple of pieces of meat. “I still have to ask her about what’s her deal with throwing you down like this. Face first even. Say… your horn’s alright right? It had cracked into the cement floor last night.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Lanina felt that she could barely keep up with Hao Ren most of the time and it took her a good while to process what he said. It was then she realised something. “Wait a minute, Goddess? What Goddess?”

“The one in charge of this universe.” Hao Ren still had that odd sense of pride when mentioning his boss.. “All the worlds in this universe is under her watch. I’m her assistant. Oh… going by your world’s tradition… I’m a Pope or somesort…”

Lanina immediately got confused. Even though she was from a different world, and did not understand the customs of Earth, she could still tell that the bunch here are a group of bumpkins. Lily alone was the personification of a country bumpkin with her gluttonous wolfing of her food. No pope worth his salt would suffer the presence of such uncouth behaviour.

She threw Hao Ren a perplexed look, “You’re not joking are you?”

“Seeing how you are looking at me. Can I even?”

“….Are the churches in your world that incompetent?” Lanina spoke bluntly like a true demon. “Even I know how a pope in my world look like. Him aside, even the Cardinals and Bishops… have a bigger sense of grandeur than you.”

Hao Ren frowned as he heard that. “It’s because they need a false sense of grandeur for them to do their work. Otherwise they are no different than your common man. But I’m the real deal! So, I don’t need that pompous charade.”

Y’zaks then gave a light cough and that prompted Lanina to quiet up and eat. Hao Ren dare not imagine the countless of whys that are currently going in her head. The succubus was still seeing things based on her own world, and clearly it will take her a long while to get accustomed to the pace Hao Ren and his group were going.

But wait until she sees Raven12345 and Hao Ren was sure he did not need to worry about that. Her worldview will be so thoroughly destroyed no amount of mending would restore it.

Y’zaks was hounding Hao Ren to get going the moment he finished his meal. To stop the anxious demon king from accidentally smashing a hole in the wall for his haste, Hao Ren could only nod and get the MDT to open the teleportation gate to heaven. But as he was about to leave, Vivian called him. “Wait! I have something for you.”

Hao Ren looked quizzically at the vampire as she ran down towards her room in the basement and brought up a snowy white scarf. Her face was all smiles. “Happy New Year! This is for you!”

An unknown warmth suddenly welled inside him and he was touched. This was the first time ever he had gotten something from a lady. As he received the scarf he did not know how to express his gratitude and that machine gun mouth of his could only stutter drily, “Uh… th…thank… you. Happy New Year to you too…”

Vivian was slightly embarassed by it. “I don’t have anything nice to give you… As you know, I can’t afford any presents, and could only make one with my household skills. Come, let me put that on you.”

Hao Ren felt a comforting warmth as Vivian put the scarf on him. He also smelt something fragrant. But before he and Vivian could dwell in the slightly romantic atmosphere Lily bounced towards them. “Hey hey! Mr Landlord that is also my New Year’s gift! The fur is mine…”

“Alright, alright, your contribution notwithstanding.” Vivian turned around and glared at the husky. “If you really have the intention I could make a few more growth elixers? Then you could have enough for all of us…”

Lily rolled her eyes, “What for? I gave Mr Landlord my fur because he gave me a roof to live under and food to eat. Unlike you.”

Vivian pursed her lips. “So a master when you have shelter and food, you sure do your bloodline proud…”

Hoa Ren smiled and waved good bye before leading Y’zaks and Lanina into the portal.