The Record of Unusual Creatures

 Lily's scream interrupted their conversation. Hao Ren and Y'zaks looked at each other for a while before the demon scratched his head and said, "What happened to her again?"     

 "God knows! Give me a second, I'll check it out." Hao Ren then scurried out the door.     

Outside, people had all gathered at one particular spot. They were all pointing at something. Lily was the most eye-catching person among the crowd as she gestured what had just happened with her hands. She ran towards Hao Ren when she saw him. "Landlord, I just blew someone out of the sky!"     

Hao Ren turned Lily back around towards the crowd. He then followed her from behind and asked, "Hey, control yourself—what happened?"     

 Lily stepped aside and pointed as she said, "It's lying there. Is it still alive?"     

Hao Ren poked his head out and was stunned. He saw a human figure, draped in some kind of black windcoat. The figure was lying face down on the ground. Judging from the person's long hair and figure, it was a female. The ground where the victim's face had smashed into was cracked. She apparently crashed face down.     

Hao Ren quivered for a moment. He knew she was not human—no human would still remain intact after landing head first like that; this had to have something to do with the otherworldly light ring that was covering his house. It was either that or Raven 12345 had once again sent "people" over unannounced.     

He went to examine the body, asking the husky, "What happened? How did you shoot her out of the sky?"     

"It was the double-bang firecracker!" Lily gestured frantically as she was convinced that she had indeed blown the person out of the sky. "After I launched the huge double-bang banger into the air, this thing just fell out of the sky. She twitched for a while before becoming totally lifeless."     

Hao Ren was amazed about all the horrible things that kept happening to the husky. He squatted down beside the victim and carefully patted her on the shoulder. There was no response and he flipped her around.     

Everyone was dumbstruck.     

The victim was a female. She looked young and different, having brown skin. On top of that, she was good-looking as well as alluring. Despite being unconscious, she exuded a subtle amorous beauty, especially when it came to magical light purple lips. No one could resist from staring at it, but Hao Ren had his will hardened thanks to Vivian and Raven 12345. He was not going to be that easily enchanted.     

The mysterious woman's unusual feature was her forehead: she had a pair of horns.     

In fact, the cracks on the ground were caused by the horns. This was the reason why Hao Ren had not been able to flip her around immediately. Her horns were stuck in the concrete—he had never seen anything like it in all the novels he had read.     

The mysterious lady with horns was wearing a slim-fit armour, which was made from some unknown material. Judging from its lustre and texture, it was no ordinary armour.     

"She's a demon!" Vivian quickly recognised the female's race. "But, she's unlike any species of demon I've ever known... They aren't as pretty."     

By then, Y'zaks had also come out from the house. When he saw the body, he was shocked. "Lanina?"     

"You know her?" Vivian looked at Y'zaks in surprise. Hao Ren knew something was bound to happen. It always occurred just when he was starting to enjoy his hard-found peaceful day.     

"She was my subordinate." Y'zaks was actually more surprised than Vivian was. He squatted down and looked at the passed out demoness. It was out of this world. "How did she manage to be still alive? How did she come here?"     

Just as Hao Ren was about to say something, he discovered a little note pinned to the demon's clothing. He picked it up and saw the upsettingly hideous handwriting on the note, which said, "This b*tch has been more lost than a blind man in the middle of a shoot-out. If I hadn't collected her, she would have died in the middle of nowhere. So, she's officially yours now—Your Majestic Goddess."     

Lily thought that she had gotten into trouble. She was instantly relieved upon hearing what Y'zaks said. "Oh, Biggie knows her? I was the one who blew her out of the sky."     

"No, it wasn't you." Hao Ren sighed and raised the note in his hand. "It was Raven 12345 who threw her out of the sky. See? The consignment note is still here."     

Everyone started to see the obvious when they heard it was Raven 12345 who was behind it. Even Y'zaks appeared less surprised.     

"Let's stop talking here. We should carry her inside." Vivian glanced at Y'zaks and Hao Ren, sensing there may be something more behind this. Nonetheless, she did not ask any questiob. She said to Lily, "Doggie, give me a hand."     

Lanina, the demoness was carried into the living room. Vivian laid her on the sofa before taking a wet towel. She wanted to apply it on Lanina's forehead, but she was at a loss of how to do it—her horns were getting in the way.     

Hao Ren took the damp towel and wrapped it over her horns in an "8" shape. Vivian looked on, dumbfounded. "Will this work?"     

"Theoretically, nothing works on demons." Hao Ren looked at the towel wrapped around Lanina's horns. He felt the strange seductive aura had somewhat lessened. "We're doing our best. What Raven did was totally brainless. How could she just throw her from the sky like that?"     

Y'zaks also came next to the sofa to check on Lanina's condition. As he came closer, her eyelids twitched rapidly before she opened her eyes, revealing a pair of dark red vertical pupils.     

As the demoness opened her eyes, she found herself surrounded by strangers in a bright and warm place. Her first reaction was to jump out of the sofa. She then kept herself several metres away from the "humans" and cautiously asked, "Who are you people?"     

She was speaking in a standard demonic language, extremely tongue-twisting and not easy to understand. Hao Ren replied in the demonic language as well, "Calm down, we're not going to hurt you..."     

"You speak the language?" The demoness had a pair of slightly curved rapiers in her hands and she stared at Hao Ren warily. "Are you a servant of a demon? Which demon owns you? Or, are you the follower of a demonic sect? What do you want?"     

Then, Y'zaks finally opened his mouth. "Lanina, keep your weapons down."     

The demoness was appalled as she gazed at Y'zaks. She felt a sense of familiarity in him—his tone of voice and his aura. But, she was not very sure from his appearance. "Who are you?"     

"Oh, you don't recognise me?" Y'zaks stared at the demoness with his arms crossed. "Haven't you seen me in human form?"     

"....King?" The demoness knitted her brows together as she looked at the big guy in front of her in disbelief. She shook her head slightly. "It can't be. You may look an eight-tenth like him, but you should be a lot uglier."     

Hao Ren gaped at Y'zaks as cold sweat trickled down his back. "Didn't you look more gruesome when you shapeshifted back then?"     

"I hadn't mastered the trick yet last time." Y'zaks was embarrased and turned his face away. The muscles on his face began to twist and his face looked even more menacing as well as fearsome. It was as if his skin had been ravaged by years of horrible natural disasters. He turned back to look at Lanina. "...Now does it look familiar to you?"     

The demoness was rooted to the spot like a statue for a long while before she muttered, "My King... it's really you? You're still alive? I-I haven't come to the wrong place?"     

It was a touching moment. Hao Ren could not help but look at the note in his hand, and began to wonder what would have happened if she had not come to the right place...