The Record of Unusual Creatures
chapter-51

Chapter 51: A Burrow

Hao Ren did not know what the enthusiasts were up to but with the gear that was on them, he could roughly figure it out. Vivian on the other hand, was brutal in her assessment. “Those clowns there, a bunch of swindlers they are. Only Nangong and that monk seem somewhat legitimate.”

Lily went about sniffing the floor. After a while she lifted her head and went, “Someone was here.”

“Well… there have been a whole lot of visitors coming to the ruins. That’s not really surprising.” Hao Ren shrugged and he slowly made his way towards the chapel as cautiously as he could. “This sounds really scary, you sure everything is okay?”

“No problem. The spirits are still entombed underground.” Vivian looked around as she activated her magical sight. Her eyes were a flash of crimson in the dark. “Listen, the howling has weakened.”

Hao Ren gulped as he noticed that the howling from the castle had indeed weakened. Instead of reassuring him, it increased his uneasiness. While he could not feel or see the dead, the place was royally haunted to him.

The wooden door had already rotted away but the entrance was barred by some fallen masonry. Hao Ren slowly closed in towards the structure and found a slit amid the boulders. He took a peek through it and saw only darkness on the other side. There were little traces of wind alongside the cries of men and sound of horses coming from the building. As the structure was riddled with holes everywhere, it seemed like the weird noise within the building was not impeded and therefore, audible throughout the castle grounds.

Hao Ren licked his index finger and placed it into the crack. He solemnly nodded. “Yes, there’s no wind.”

“Of course, if there was, you would have been covered in dust and debris when you were peeking.” Vivian pushed Hao Ren aside and waved towards Lily. “Over here, doggie. Move this out of the way.”

Hao Ren was a little queasy. “Wait a minute, won’t this disturb the dead?”

“What dead? I’ve fought real mummies before. Heck, I’ve even faced off with the pharaoh’s guard as well. Go, doggie!”

“I dare you to say that again! I’ll give you a big chomp if that’s the last thing I do!” Lily was getting increasingly infuriated by Vivian’s obvious disrespect towards her and protested menacingly. That said, it was a job well-suited for Lily, who was all brawn so, she went about moving the boulders.

As Lily tossed the first boulder aside, the noise from the chapel ceased.

“It stopped!” Hao Ren exclaimed. “I think I heard something in there. Did you guys hear it?”

Vivian slightly nudged her head towards the chapel, trying to catch the noise Hao Ren heard. At the same time, she gestured towards Lily. “Pay no heed, keep moving.”

“Huurrrrummphhh!” Lily grunted as she lifted a boulder which looked like it weighed a tonne. She lifted it with ease and tossed it a good few meters aside as though the boulder was nothing. Hao Ren wisely stood a few meters away from Lily, fearing that the dumb werewolf would accidentally kill him with a stray toss. Nonetheless, he was still amazed by her feat of strength. “If only I had such strength…”

“She’s all brawn only.” Vivian twitched as she looked at Lily moving the boulders. She was smiling curtly. “The true source of strength is knowledge. Strength alone is no match for my blood magic. Just a curse alone will fell―”

“Go on…” Lily said as she turned around with a boulder lifted over her head.

Hao Ren who was beside Vivian quickly scrambled aside. “STOOPPP!!! I’m just a normal person you know? I’ll die if that lands of me! If you two want to duke it out, let’s go somewhere with no one around later”

Lily hissed bitterly and turned back to continue her labor. It was not long before the boulders were cleared from the entrance, with the last one being kicked away. The entrance of the chapel now stood open for them.

“Mr. Landlord, my shoe’s torn…” Lily pointed towards her foot. Hao Ren took a glance and found that her white sport shoe had been torn open and her toes stuck out gloriously. Remember, she kicked that last boulder earlier? Other books do not even dwell on minute details like this…

“I’ll get you a new one once we’re back home. I suppose this counts as work expenditure.” Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat of his head, ruing his fortune thus far. He carefully made his way into the chapel, curious to know what was actually inside.

Nonetheless, the sense of unease had not left Hao Ren. Even the bravest of men would not have rushed head first into an enclosed stone room, which was the source of an eerie howl. With Vivian, who was ever proficient in sensing the dead, reassuring him that it was safe and Lily being a world class bodyguard, Hao Ren steeled himself for the ride. After all, he still had his pride as a man and feared that he would lose face in front of the two ladies if he backed down.

Although the entrance was previously sealed by the caved in boulders, the chapel itself was not in perfect condition. A crack here and a wreck there, it was pretty well ventilated. Hao Ren could not tell anything was rotting in there until Lily jumped in and kicked up a cloud of dust. Vivian frowned at the impetuous werewolf and a slight breeze formed. It blew away the dust around them as Vivian directed her spell with the usual grace of a vampire. Lily spat at her, “Oh… a little bit of dust and dirt’s not befitting your stature, eh?”

The chapel itself was empty. The pews and pedestals were long gone. All that was left were fallen bricks scattered on the floor. The design of the chapel had a medieval feeling to it with tall, narrow windows flanking each side of the wall. The glass windows were also long gone and the pale glow of the moonlight seeped through the narrow window slits, making the place look even more eerie.

“The moon’s out….” Lily stared at the windows. “Mr. Landlord… I feel like letting out a howl or two…”

Hao Ren had nothing to retort.

What kind of bloody habit was that?

Using his obtained special ability, Hao Ren could clearly see what was in the chapel. There was nothing out of the ordinary. No will o’ wisps floating about, no hollowed knights cantering about on their skeletal steeds and no magical grimoires scattered on the floor. It seemed like everything had ended even before he stepped in. The chapel was but an ordinary chapel.

Lily got on all fours and started sniffing. “Mr. Landlord… there was someone here, I caught a scent of a living person…”

Vivian walked towards a corner of the chapel and waved towards a stone panel. A gust of crimson mist rushed towards the panel and a sizzling crackle rang as the mist ate through the panel violently. It was not long before the panel was nothing but ash, revealing a small entrance into a burrow. “Whoever the person was, he ran through here.”

“A person? You mean whoever pulled that stunt was a living person? How did you know?” Hao Ren looked at Vivian in shock. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

“I did sense a living being hiding in here and I wanted to see what he was up to. Never thought that he was the one playing pranks.” Vivian shrugged. “He ran away after Lily tossed the first boulder aside. So much for having acute senses. A human slipped away under your nose.”

“I was busy lifting boulders! I wasn’t paying attention!” Lily angrily retorted.

Hao Ren ignored the bickering duo and went towards the entrance of the burrow. “Should we go in there?”

“You can wait up here if you want to.” Vivian took a look at the burrow’s entrance, clearly unfazed by it. “Although I’m pretty sure that it’s just a normal person, we still don’t know what’s underneath so, there could be danger.”

What Vivian said rubbed Hao Ren the wrong way. He was destined to be the king of babysitters, with so many oddball tenants coming his way. Surely, a man playing ghost in a castle’s ruins could not so much as faze him!?

“Get out of my way. I’m a vanguard,” Hao Ren said as he pushed the ladies aside. Without anymore thought, he leapt into the burrow. “Fuuuuuuc―!”