The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-467

Chapter 467: Vengeful Spirit-Ridden

Siberia, one of the coldest regions in the world, where a large population of humanity exists. When talking about Siberia, many people inadvertently think of a dull, monotonous wasteland. But, it is an extremely vast area. Aside from snow and gelisols, there is also a large area of tundra filled with mountains, cold vegetation, and icy swamps. Tens of millions of people live in this cold and snow-covered wilderness. Most of them are clustered in the few milder and more temperate towns in Siberia, while other areas are sparsely populated.

Unfortunately, Hao Ren and the others were not there to enjoy the life and culture of this fighter nation. They were actually in the most desolate, most inaccessible place in Siberia, just next to the Arctic Circle where humans were a rare species.

Before their departure, they had prepared thick coats. Although most of them were not afraid of the cold, the coats would at least help them to blend in. Looking at the desolate wilderness and the snow, which was vaguely visible in the the end of the horizon, Vivian instinctively pulled her clothes closer to herself. “I remember being here in the Arctic Circle…”

“Why were you here?” Hao Ren glanced at her. “If we rewind time and look a few years back, I’m afraid you probably didn’t see a single human in Siberia, did you?”

“My memory fails me.” Vivian scratched her head. “It’s not that you don’t already know. But for the most part, it’s probably because I was poor.”

Everyone was speechless.

At this time, Hao Ren felt something wriggling on his collar. Lil Pea poked her head out, holding on to the furry collar of his coat tightly. She watched excitedly at the vast world outside. “Big… Big… So big!”

She was struggling for words to describe what she saw. All she knew was “big”. It seemed that the little one still had a long way to go.

Hao Ren quickly put his hands around the collar to prevent Lil Pea from falling out. At – 30 °C, if the little one fell out, the warm water fish would become a piece of frozen fish in no time. In fact, he did not want to bring Lil Pea with him in the first place. After all, they were going to an icy cold place, and Lil Pea was a child, who would hibernate in freezing temperatures. At sub-zero temperatures, she would be frozen, but he just could not stand her nagging.

Nangong Sanba mentioned that the vengeful spirit was entrenched in the ancient house of a reclusive elite family. The house of the family, whom he called a “parvenu” was still hidden deeper in the snowy steppe. After the MDT teleported them to a wide-off-the-mark location in Siberia, there were still a long way from their destination. Hao Ren looked around, and it was definitely not a place for sightseeing. He reached into his Dimensional Pocket and said, “We’ll drive there.”

Nangong Sanba was a little startled when he saw Hao Ren yanking out a vehicle out of nowhere. But then he calmed down quickly. Meanwhile, Wuyue came up to him and giggled. “You seem to be more composed, eh? Not surprised anymore?”

Nangong Sanba hemmed and said, “Who doesn’t have a secret weapon? On top of that, he’s someone who runs a shelter. I’m used to it, so to tell you the truth, even if he pulls out a spaceship from his pocket now, I won’t be at all surprised.”

Hao Ren glanced at him. “Are you sure?”

Nangong Sanba was appalled. “Do you really have one?”

Hao Ren was not very worried about revealing too much high-tech stuff in front of this outsider. He was at the very least experienced at this point. He had been met with bigger trouble before, so this little thing did not worry him. He just needed to ensure that he complied with the administration’s system, or else he would be grilled by the goddess.

Nangong Sanba was not taking Hao Ren seriously; he was just acting surprised. He turned to look at the vehicle Hao Ren yanked out of “nowhere”, and said, “Do you think this will work with all the snow in Siberia?”

Hao Ren glared at him. “You’re looking down on it because of its small displacement, isn’t it? Let me tell you, although it looks tiny from the outside , it’s really big inside.”

Before Nangong Sanba could say anything more, he was already being shoved into the car. When he got inside, he was shocked by the spacious cabin. With just a glance, he knew there was something off about the interior. But some sort of sensory confusion made him unsure of where the anomaly began and where it ended. He could only vaguely feel that he had just passed through a distorted space, which was probably the car door.

Hao Ren slid into the car, and placed the MDT into the card slot next to the driver’s seat. Then, he drove into the distant white world.

The small Northstar galloped across the frozen wilderness of Siberia. Despite the rough terrain with virtually no actual road present, the car moved like it was running across a track. This would have become another unsolved mystery if people had spotted it. Inside the car, Lil Pea was lying on Hao Ren’s shoulder, looking through the window at the scenery outside. She made loud exclamations from time to time, “Wow! It’s snow!

“Wow! It’s rock!

“Wow! It’s food!”

The last one was because she saw a few dead trees zooming past.

As the car entered the snowy land, the scenery became even more monotonous. The undulating wilderness was devoid of vegetation, only static, white snow, which had been accumulating since time immemorial. Faint images of mountains and shadow of the woods could be seen in the distance. Aside from that, it was just white. The were already in the Arctic Circle, and they were still travelling north. To be honest, it was unimaginable that there would anyone rich who would like to live in this ghostly place. But the reclusive elite, whom Nangong Sanba called the “parvenu was indeed living in this desolate place.

“Igor’s family is a very special group of people, they have become extraordinarily wealthy since a long time ago. Despite experiencing the many social changes, conflicts and turmoil in the world, they stayed wealthy as ever,” Nangong Sanba began to tell the storu of the reclusive elites they were visiting, and he finally stopped calling them ‘parvenus’. “They have properties all over Europe, but their families are very low-key and remain mostly anonymous. People say they are blessed by gods to enjoy the massive wealth from generation to generation, but I think it was already under the curse of the vengeful spirit: they’re so wealthy that even the October Revolution hadn’t been able to shaken their foundation, but each one of them is afflicted by catastrophes outside of human disasters: all kinds of supernatural deaths, sickness, madness, accidents, suicides, and even disappearance in their own bedrooms. For years, they have been seeking witchcraft and the dark world for helps—exorcists and priests, even Chinese priests, but luck have never on their side, they have never been able to find a real expert, though I was one of the most professional one they have ever got. If I knew it earlier exactly what troublesome the family was in I would have been better prepared. Unfortunately not until the vengeful spirit appeared, I only knew about what kind of stuff they had provoked.”

“How could such a wealthy family live in this place?” Lily curiously asked. “Most parts of Siberia have been places of exile of prisoners a few hundred years ago, especially where we are now, close to the Arctic Circle and far from the bustling world of humanity, it’s extremely costly for any humans to settle down here.

Hao Ren glanced at Lily, surprised. “Why are you suddenly so serious? And you sounds pretty learned.”

Lily grinned, looking at Hao Ren. “I’m the one with the highest qualifications here, don’t you know? I didn’t show it off because I was lazy.”

Vivian pushed Lily away and said, “Save it! You’re just blessed by your home town in the Arctic Cirle.”

Nangong Sanba smiled. “Like I said, Igor’s family is a reclusive elite. Though they are ordinary people, they are unfortunate to be exposed to the worlds of the otherworldlings, and naturally greatly affected by them. Withdrawing from the crowds, weird behaviors, unidentified wealth, family genetic diseases that science fails to explain, seeking help from witchcraft and taboo knowledge—these are things which are most likely experienced by families that cross path with the otherworldlings. The family we’re going to meet moved to this area three hundred years ago, and amassed great wealth at the same time. The ‘evil spirit’ which have been haunting them for generations appeared at that same moment too.”

Hao Ren asked, “What had they done three hundred years ago?”

“Summoning the dead,” Nangong Sanba shrugged. “I didn’t ask about the details. From the beginning I thought it was just another intrusion of evil spirits, and went ahead without investigation. Never have I expected I was nearly OK by the vengeful spirit.”

Soon, the ancient house which was invaded by vengeful spirit appeared ahead of them.