The Record of Unusual Creatures

2After all was said and done, Lanina had to sleep in the same room with Vivian. There were simply no rooms left to accomodate the demoness, only Vivian's room had space. Hao Ren actually had no issues sleeping together with the succubus, but that would have probably gotten him murdered...      3

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 would have already struck by then... Going by how a succubus operated, 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. He did not even know the orientation of the succubus he adopted. Then again.. trying to dig you own step-daughter's sexual orientation was probably not something a father should have done. Forget it, logic just did not hold water in situations like this. In fact, it was impossible to find someone with an intact worldview in this household anymore. Hao Ren had long given up trying to figure out his tenants for fear of being driven insane.     

The next morning, Hao Ren was not awakened by his cat, or his beloved daughter. The moment he opened his eyes, a vicious-looking face was starring at him, and his heart almost stopped beating. The large face even spoke to him. "You're awake? Let's 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 city to surrender, her shouted, "Are you nuts?! You nearly killed me with that face of yours this early in the morning!"     

Y'zaks tossed Hao Ren his clothes with a nonplussed look and said, "I'll wait for you outside. Let's go meet the goddess."     

Hao Ren knew that Y'zaks' mind was totally occupied with thoughts of his daughter surviving it was impossible to talk sense into someone that determined. Hao Ren quickly changed as he mumbled, "Everything was so peaceful yesterday... Wait, let me have my breakfast first! Don't give that look! It's not like the goddess is going to run away. Plus, it's going to take some time applying 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 exited his room. Rollie was already waiting to be fed by the table. Lil Pea was on Rollie's head and she reacted happily the moment she saw Hao Ren stepping out of his room. She waved at him excitedly with her tail, slapping the cat's head. It was a subconscious act, but Rollie could only endure the hits, fearing that if it did not abide by the wishes of the fish, it would get beaten even more...     

Hao Ren looked at the duo and suddenly became envious of the cat. He could not even stay at home for the New Year. He had to go on harrowing inter-dimensional adventures. Rollie on the other hand, had an almost sedentary, yet regimented lifestyle with a side of being beated by Lil Pea. So, aside from a bruised pride, there was little to worry about...     

Lanina had fully calmed down after her initial elation of seeing Y'zaks again. She was now seated quietly by the table, awaiting orders. Her at-attention posture was so different from what one would expect of an alluring succubus. She was still in her slightly worn armoured bodysuit, which emphasised her well-proportioned body. Vivian had thought of looking for a change of clothes for the succubus, but none of the ladies at home couldmatch her voluptuous proportions. After looking around for abit, she had nothing to how but the wounded prides of the ladies at home.     

Hao Ren stood before the dining table, his face bearing the pride of a household head. He bent down to pick Lil Pea up and clearedhis throat to deliver his first speech on the first day of Chinese New Year. Before he could even speak, Vivian preempted him. "Buns or pastries?"     

Hao Ren coughed dryly. "Buns will do, buns..."     

It seemed like the super serious demeanour did not really suit him at all.     

The four ascetics had already left the house early in the morning, but the table was still filled with people. It was almost like a happy reunion dinner of sorts. Lanina staredin amazement at the scene before her, especially at Y'zaks, who was chomping down on a big bowl of rice. It was only after a good while that she began to touch her chopsticks. Hao Ren noticed this and asked her as he fed Lil Pea a small sheet of paper, "Not used to human food?"     

"Uh.. it's not that..." Lanina was at a lost for words. The atmosphere was just too different from what she had expected. She looked at Y'zaks. "My Lord, have you been living here since you disappeared?"     

"Yes." Y'zaks looked up to respond. "Why? Anything wrong?"     

Lanina shook her head. "Nothing... it's... good..."     

"If that's the case, quickly eat up. We'll be reporting to the goddess once we're done with our meal," Hao Ren said as he tossed Rollie a couple pieces of meat. "I still have to ask her what's her deal with throwing you down like that; face first not to mention. Say... your horns are okay, right? It cracked the cement floor last night."      

"They're fine, they're fine." Lanina felt that she could barely keep up with Hao Ren most of the time and it took a her a few moments to process what he said. It was then that she realised something. "Wait a minute, goddess? What goddess?"     

"The one in charge of this universe." Hao Ren still had an odd sense of pride when he mentioned his boss. "All the worlds in this universe are under her watch. I'm her assistant. Oh... going by your world's tradition... I'm a pope of some sort..."     

Lanina immediately became confused. Even though she was from a different world, and did not understand the customs of Earth, she could not understand the customs of Earth, she could still tell that the bunch before her was a group of bumpkins. Lily alone was the personification of a country bumpkin with the gluttnous 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're 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 looks 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're no different than your common man. But, I'm the real deal! So, I don't need that pompous charade."     

Y'zaks then coughed lightly, and that prompted Lanina to shut up and eat. Hao Ren could not even imagine the countless whys that were currently bouncing about in her head. The succubus was still seeing things based on her own perspective. It was clealy going to take her a long time to be accustomed to the pace Hao Ren and his group were at.     

Wait until she sees Raven 12345. Hao Ren was sure he did not need to worry about that. Her worldview would be so thoroughly destroyed, no amount of mending would be able to restore it.     

Y'zaks hounded 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 due to 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 out to him, "Wait! I have something for you."     

Hao Ren looked at the vampire quizzically as she ran down towards her room in the basement and brought out 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 he had ever gotten something from a lady. As he received the scarf, he did not know how to express his gratitude. That machine-gun mouth of his could only stutter dryly, " Uh... th-thanks... Happy New Year to you too..."      

Vivian felt a little embarrassed. "I don't have anything nice to give you... As you know, I can't afford any presents and I can only make one with my household skills. Come, let me put it 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's also my New Year's gift to you! The fur's mine..."     

"Alright, alright, your contribution isn't forgotten." Vivian turned around and glared at the husky. "If you really such good intentions, I could make a few more hair tonics then? Then you can have enough fur for all if 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. "When you have shelter and food, you sure do your bloodline proud..."     

Hao Ren smiled and waved goodbye before leading Y'zaks as well as Lanina into the portal.