The Record of Unusual Creatures

2"Huh?" Hao Ren looked curiously at the small wooden box in Vivian's hand. The thing was glowing with a black and red luster. The fine carving on it was of a 300-year-old European style. Due to its age, the edges of the wooden box had some fine cracks. Aside from that, it was not much different from an ordinary jewelry box from that era. "Maybe this is the only valuable thing you had back then, that's why you were solem when you passed it to your servant."      0

"Yes, I was poor, but I've never really cared about stuff like this." Vivian opened the wooden box and looked at the velvet lining inside. "My main concern has always been filling my stomach. What's so special about this box?"     

She put the box under her nose and sniffed it. "There's a slight stench of blood—my own blood. It must be a sign. It's been 300 years, and the stench has thinned out. The runes in the box contain no special information."     

Hao Ren took the box in his hand and shook it slightly. Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. "Perhaps there's an interlayer... Do you want to take it apart?"     

Vivian was a bit hesitant. Actually, she had this idea a few days ago when she received the box, but she could not make up her mind on ripping the box apart: after all, the item looked elegant. She knitted her brows together as she had been struggling internally for a long time before she finally nodded softly. "Instead of preserving it, I think we may find something by ripping it apart. But, be careful not to break the board. Maybe we could put it back together."     

Hao Ren twitched his mouth, knowing that Vivian was experiencing heartache despite saying she did not care.     

Hao Ren put the small wooden box on the table, and took out a small knife as well as a screwdriver. He then pried open the box very cautiously, lest he would damage the interlayer. After removing a few small planks, he discovered something inside.     

There was really a hollow layer at the bottom of the box.     

"Is something really hidden inside?" Surprised, Vivian extended her nail so that she could reach inside the crevice. She then pulled out a yellow-white cloth, which felt like satin along with a blood-red crystal, which was only a few millimeters thick. It was smaller than the size of a thumb.     

Hao Ren looked at it expectantly. He found the whole matter magical: from the ancient, three-century-old jewelry box; the hidden interlayer; the witch's secret, hidden knowledge; the 300-year-old immortal custodian of the treasure box, to the basement where they did the unboxing. Aside from the fact that the witch was a poor bat, everything was jaw-dropping.     

Vivian carefully unfolded the strange "fabric". It was unexpectedly thin and tough, the kind of material which was far beyond the reach of ancient human textile technology. It was nearly three square feet when laid unfolded. Letters written in dark red "pigments" covered a third of the fabric while the rest of the fabric had simple drawings on it. A large blank area seemed to be reserved for future use.     

"This is... a fabric used by the Egyptian gods. I remember that Horus once gave me something like this, and asked me to help him treat a plague." Vivian looked at the three-square-feet "satin" cloth thoughtfully. "This fabric was not something the humans of that era could produce."     

Hao Ren found that the color of the handwriting on the fabric was somewhat strange and inconsistent. The writing was not all written at once, but over a course of many years. "Did you write this?" Hao Ren asked.     

"It's my handwriting, and it was written with my blood, otherwise it wouldn't have lasted so long." Vivian diligently examined the text to find a logical sequence. "...My handwriting at that time was really ugly. It's written in an old language, which no one can read today."     

Hao Ren was speechless.     

"This is the beginning." Vivian pointed at the corner of the fabric and slowly read it out, "Some records were lost, disappeared with memory, and could no longer be found. I don't even know for sure what I've lost. Keeping records in a dormant place or burying them was unreliable and unattended. They could be damaged by changes in the natural environment, and I wouldn't be able to remember them after waking up. So, I made a duplicate of them before losing everything and put them in custody of my trusted servants, or in a human museum. That way even if I lose my memory, they were at least preserved and they might be rediscovered one day."     

Hao Ren frowned. "What do you mean?"     

"I mean these manuscripts. It looks like I kept other similar texts, and saved copies of them. But each time I woke up, I would find some of my manuscripts missing," said Vivian as she tried to recall things. "I tried to keep them with me by burying them underground before I hibernated. However, I found out that if these manuscripts were left unattended, things would go wrong. So in the end, I chose to give them to servants, or induce human archaeologists to put them in museums."     

Vivian nodded and continued. "Well, although humans have short lives, they preserve their inheritance in a better and more reliable way than otherworldlings. At least... that's more reliable than my memory. The human archaeological system seems to be a good way to save relics."     

Hao Ren wryly said, "Nowadays, yes. But that may not have been the case in ancient times. Have you not seen the burning of books and burying of scholars as well as the fire in the Library of Alexandria?"     

Vivian's mouth twitched. "I've seen fire in the Library of Alexandria. However, the burning of books and burying of scholars weren't as serious as people say. When Qin Shi Huang burned the books, the only extant copies were spared—he hid them in his library."     

"Let's just read your last words... Umm, manuscripts."     

Sitting at the table, Vivian worked hard to read the ancient texts written hundreds, or thousands, or even tens of thousands of years ago. No one could understand the symbols. They could have been hieroglyphic writings of early humans, or mysterious texts unrecorded in history. Vivian could only remember that they originated from a certain tribe or god. Of course, the writing also included a small part of Letta runes. Due to the fact that Letta runes were not suitable for record-keeping, the language formed just a small part of the manuscript. Vivian knew the meaning of those particular words, but could not tell where they originated from. One could say that this was a secret letter only one person in the world could interpret. It would become a sensation if it landed in the hands of the archaeologists.     

But it was not destined to fall into the hands of those experts. Now, the author was struggling to recall the meaning of those words and interpret them piece by piece.     

"...The following's copied from other old manuscripts and recalled from memory. They may not be as accurate, and the earliest ones can no longer be recalled.     

"...Awakened in the wilderness. The place where the sun rises is a beach, and where the sun sets is a mountain range. The glacier has receded and the earth seems to be recovering. Breathing more comfortably. Walking in the direction of the warm breeze, you can see the grasslands and the waking trees as well as traces of humans in stone piles. They have survived the winter and are now hunting. I'm regarded as a goddess. Receiving food offerings, I begin to restore my strength.     

"...After 200 seasons, the tribe began to fear my longevity and strength, so I left. I moved in the direction of the sun, scaled over the mountain, flew over a vast area, and stumbled upon a white tower and palace. This place is beyond human architectural skills. Perhaps, it is a place for people like me to stay.     

"The people in the tower did not welcome me, so I left. I met Amon and Osiris in the wilderness. They were traveling to a place with a large river. They invited me to join them, but I was sleepy. I needed to find a place to rest. Also, I have been irritated recently and have been inexplicably fighting with someone. It's best not to join anyone in their journey.     

"Found a safe cave. I laid down a defense perimeter and was ready to drop. The final night was a night of a full moon. It was bright, but I had no energy to watch it."     

"...Woke up in the cave. It was cold and snowing outside. I hoped that it was not going to be a long, icy season again. Traces of human settlements could be found outside the cave. There were some abandoned stone houses and tools. It seemed that a tribe or a small kingdom had appeared during my hibernation. This time I moved in the direction of the setting sun and found a large plain with a large-scale human settlement. They were tenacious.     

"Physical strength has recovered. The sense of weakness after a period of slumber has receded. Heading towards the direction of the cold wind. More memories about my strength has come back to mind, which seems to be a good thing. Met Zeus and Hera, who were an interesting couple quarrying on the mountain. They were thinking of herding humans, but they did not know how to go about it.     

"Physical recovery has been quick. It seems that my strength is as good as it was in my heyday. I easily defeated a group of beasts and skeleton warriors. But after that there was a strange sense of anger lingering on as if the herds and their masters were my enemies. This is probably related to some lost memories... My power continued to increase and I finally destroyed the lord of the skeleton warriors who invaded the territory. The anger slightly subsided, but drowsiness took over. I need to find a sleeping place. This time I have chosen to sleep on a hill."     

While translating, Vivian added her own speculations. "The beginning was the late glacial period or later than that, and the second time was like seven or eight thousand years ago... Zeus had not yet created Mount Olympus. He only paid attention to the human kingdom several thousands of years after that."     

"It seems to be a diary for every time you woke up and hibernated." Hao Ren knitted his brows together. "Why did you keep recording that?"     

Vivian shook her head. "I don't know... Let's keep reading for now."