The Record of Unusual Creatures

Panda Novel

Baptiste?

When Lily mentioned the name, Hao Ren froze. He found the name familiar, but he could not remember where he had heard it until Lily nudged his arm and whispered “Inferno”.

Yesterday’s planet Inferno was today’s World Gate-Surface World monitoring center. The incredible planet, once stuck on the Wall of Reality, was named Inferno because of the terrible environment on its upper crust. It came to Hao Ren’s attention because of a wizard named Baptiste.

Baptiste was active in France during the medieval period before he mysteriously disappeared for hundreds of years. He used magic to engulf an entire town, from which he obtained the power to open a portal to Inferno. Baptiste did not even blink an eye about turning himself into an immortal but cursed creature just to find his mentor cum lover, who fell into Inferno during a magic-related accident.

It all became clear. Hao Ren finally connected the mysterious wizard before him with Baptiste, whom he would meet 600 years later. He had also come to realize what the actions of the wizard named Bain were all about, and how Lily figured out the wizard’s identity.

Hao Ren had to admit that the husky maiden had sharp intuition.

The matter may not have anything to do with his “back to the future” journey, but at least he had unwittingly solved a mystery, he thought.

Now Hao Ren knew why a human wizard could open an interstellar portal, and he knew his intricate connection with Vivian. That was the start of it all.

Meanwhile, Bain, who had appeared calm the entire time, was now visibly shocked. He turned to the husky maiden. “Do you know me?”

“Do you know him?” Hessiana and Hasse also asked in unison.

Lily thought for a moment, her ears standing on end. “Huh! Have I gotten it right?”

Everyone was stupefied.

“Ahem, I have heard about him,” Hao Ren chimed in. He knew that the husky maiden could not explain herself. “I see. I see. Baptiste, so this is how you got the key to Inferno.”

Wizard Bain, or rather Baptiste, finally gave up his disguise. He took off his hood and revealed his thin and dreary face. “Who are you? How do you know about my desire to go to Inferno?”

“What? You are going to Inferno?” Vivian asked in surprise. Her mind was still a muddle after just waking up from a long hibernation. “You did not tell me this!”

Hessiana almost went banana. “Lady Vivian, you gave this guy your power crystal without even knowing his intention?”

“He told me he was looking for someone, who happened to be one of my followers. So I helped him,” Vivian said. “I did not know the person he was looking for was in Inferno! Hey, kid. Baptiste, right? I tell you what, if you intend to use the key to open the door to Inferno, I will have to rethink the deal. No ordinary wizards could successfully open the portal to Inferno. Even if you make it, you cannot say for sure what would come out from the other side.”

Baptiste had never expected the ancient Blood Clan like Vivian was so garrulous. He thought that the Countess of the Crimson Moon was supposed to be ruthless, indifferent to the life and death of the commoners, that she could care less about the rise and fall of kingdoms. So even if he wanted to open the portal to Inferno, this mighty being would not blink an eye. But now Baptiste realized that he was mistaken. The old woman was going back on her word.

Baptiste’s mind was racing to simulate various responses he could make. He even thought of the possibility of escaping. But before he could do anything, a shadow suddenly lunged at him from the side, and a whip coiled over his arm.

Hessiana looked at the human wizard who was upset but unafraid. “Tsk tsk, I am sorry. You cannot leave now.”

Hao Ren watched the event unfold. He suddenly noticed in his peripheral vision that Vivian was looking curiously at him.

She was not looking at him but also others at the scene, including the demon hunters.

“What is going on?” Vivian’s brows knitted together. “Why are there so many people in my hibernation place? I have wanted to ask earlier—demon hunters, what do you want? That guy is Hasse, right? What compels you to come looking for trouble? Little werewolf girl there, and that man with two black swords in his hands—where are all of you from? I do not think that I know you.”

Hessiana’s expression suddenly changed.

She stared at Hao Ren in suspicion. “Did you not say that you are friends of Lady Vivian’s?”

“Friends?” Vivian shook her head. “I do not know them.”

“I can explain!” Hao Ren quickly threw his hands up. “Vivian must have forgotten the both of us again! As we all know, Vivian has a bad memory.”

Hessiana was not convinced. Hao Ren’s explanation may have sounded credible, but the incident had aroused her suspicion about Hao Ren and Lily’s identities.

But Vivian nodded in agreement. “That is possible.”

“Lady Vivian! Don’t you give up on your memory so soon!” Hessiana cried.

Vivian appeared indifferent. “But it is undeniable that I have a bad memory,”

“You two! You had better come up with something to prove your identities and make Lady Vivian remember you both!” Hessiana could not stop Vivian from believing them, but she could at least give them a hard time. “If you cannot prove yourself, then I can only treat you both and Baptiste as liars and conspirators. Especially you, Hao Ren—where is that bat in your pocket? Take it out and let Lady Vivian examine it to determine if it is a fake!”

The evidence that Little Bat had accepted as truth had become suspicious just because of what Vivian said.

Hao Ren threw his hands in the air. “Okay, okay, I have another piece of evidence that I would like Vivian to see.”

While he spoke, Hao Ren reached into his Dimensional Pocket and took out an item. Just as he was about to pass it to Vivian, Hessiana stopped him. “Wait a minute! Let me hand it over to Lady Vivian, just in case you’ve tampered with it to deceive her.”

Just when Hao Ren was about to ask “How about Baptiste if you move away,” Little Bat’s body suddenly swayed. A shadow that looked exactly like her but with a weaker aura and expressionless face came out of her.

Hessiana’s magic avatar went up to Hao Ren and said, “Give it to me. I will hand it over to Lady Vivian.”

Hao Ren shrugged and handed the thing to Hessiana’s avatar.

It was the room key—the crucial medium to wake Vivian up from the false space and time.

Hessiana’s avatar took over the key, but she did not pass it to Vivian at once. Instead, she used magic to examine the key for a long time. Meanwhile, Hessiana looked suspiciously at it from not far away. “What is that? A small piece of strange metal?”

“Just let Vivian take a look.” Hao Ren appeared secretive. “You know it, it does not have any magic on it. It is not dangerous.”

“It better be!”

Little Bat snorted and motioned her avatar to hand the key to Vivian.

Vivian took the key, raised it in the air and looked at it curiously.

Right then, Hao Ren noticed that the grassland had stopped collapsing.

The darkness creeping at the boundary a few hundred meters away had stopped. The broken fragments that were flying away from the edge of the earth became a still picture as if someone had pressed the pause button. The moon in the sky appeared brighter and brighter, everything between the heavens and the earth quickly turned gray.

The same happened to the Hunter Group led by Lockheed.

It also happened to Baptiste, whom Hessiana was subduing.

Even Hessiana and Hasse had the same fading gray on them.

Meanwhile, Hessiana’s magic avatar had long vanished.

Hao Ren and Lily exchanged a look and nodded in unison. Things may have gone a little off course, but it ended just the way they had planned it.

Vivian shifted her gaze away from the key. Her eyes quickly brightened up and landed on the two familiar faces. “Hao Ren? Doggie? Why are you two— Sigh, why is that kid also here? Where am I now?”

Vivian saw Hessiana standing not far away.

Lily scratched her head and muttered impatiently, “So we have to explain everything all over again!”

Hao Ren smiled but did not respond to the husky maiden’s complaint. He just walked towards Vivian.

“A lot of things have happened. Let me tell you slowly.”