About the Others

It was still unknown whether Vivian's magic item worked. In any case, Hao Ren hadn't had another nightmare for three nights in a row—but he didn't think it had anything to do with the Bagua Plate.

For one thing, he knew the Bagua Plate hadn't originally been meant to ward off evil. Using it to read feng shui, determine directions, or locate spiritual treasures fit its supposed function. Using it to suppress spirits and exorcise evil was a matter for an entirely different field. For another, he had found a line of tiny text in the corner of the Bagua Plate bearing the name of some wooden handicraft factory in Sichuan... There was simply no way to explain that.

He decided not to tell Vivian the truth.

In any case, not having any more nightmares was a good sign. Although the tuft of wolf fur that had come from his dreams into the real world still made him uneasy, and although Hao Ren was nearly certain that he had once again been targeted by something extraordinary, he was quite good at consoling himself. Even if the sky fell, as long as Yao Ming was still alive, he could continue living happily. As for the nightmares... he would ask Raven 12345 when he saw her.

Speaking of Raven 12345, Hao Ren had gone looking for her once two days earlier. After all, there had been many things they hadn't cleared up during their hurried parting last time, and Hao Ren had accumulated plenty of questions at home. Yet when he went to find her, he didn't see that strange "Goddess."

Hao Ren used the same method as before. He took a car to the maddeningly ridiculous "Wangba Tuozi," found the streetlamp plastered with an advertisement for an old Chinese doctor, and was smoothly transported to the upside-down foreign-style house that might have been located in another dimension. This proved that his previous experience hadn't been a dream. However, Raven 12345 was nowhere to be seen in the house. Hao Ren only saw several blue mist people patrolling the garden and mansion. They were probably Raven 12345's servants. They appeared to possess considerable intelligence, but apparently couldn't speak human language, and Hao Ren felt completely unable to communicate with them.

One of the blue mist people handed Hao Ren a note. Raven 12345 had written that she had important business in Centaurus and would probably be back in three to five days. If she got carried away having fun, she might not return for three to five years.

Then the blue servants drove Hao Ren out with the unreliable note clutched in his hand.

"This is seriously unreliable..." Hao Ren sat in the living room with the air conditioner blowing as he read a magazine. Recalling his visit two days earlier to the "Time-Space Administration Bureau Wangba Tuozi Office" (the full name was very important), he felt a pang of frustration. He had no idea when Raven 12345 would return and answer his questions. Hao Ren now felt as though he was shrouded in fog. Everything around him was incomprehensible and impossible to grasp. He didn't even know where to begin asking, while the only person who might be able to tell him everything was an utterly unreliable "Goddess" who seemed like a lunatic.

If he hadn't been so open-minded, he felt that his obsessive-compulsive tendencies alone would have driven him to death.

Of course, over the past two days, he had also tried asking Vivian and Lily about the "others." How should he put it... he had gained something, at least. He now had some real understanding of Werewolves and Vampires, and had also gained a vague impression of that "world" existing beyond human society.

"Others"—that was the term Hao Ren instinctively used for Lily and Vivian. In fact, it was also what many humans called those nonhuman beings. Even Lily and Vivian referred to themselves that way, and they didn't seem particularly dissatisfied with it.

No one knew when the others had originated. It seemed that they had left traces ever since humans began keeping historical records. From the fantastical gods and monsters of ancient myths, to the grand church campaigns against demons in the Middle Ages and China's campaigns to subdue demons and banish evil, then to the occasional frightening tales passed down in modern times, half-true legends of the others could be found everywhere. Vampires, Werewolves, demons, undead, and other such beings were now regarded by many people as nothing more than stories meant to frighten children. But when those ancient stories had first taken shape, they had been genuine "sighting reports."

The vast majority of the others posed a threat to humans. The circumstances of their earliest conflicts could no longer be verified, but one thing was certain: the others and humans had been constantly clashing even before written history. At the same time, many others had also come into close contact with humans and even lived alongside them. During the era when humans dwelled in caves, the others had been the original gods and ferocious beasts of ancient stories. Many old books passed down to this day mentioned "divine" and "extraordinary people" with animal features or three heads and six arms, as well as bizarre-looking mutant monsters that clearly defied evolution. Some of these records were the imagination and exaggeration of the ancients; some described deformed children genuinely born in ancient times due to inbreeding and disease; and most of the rest referred to others who had truly existed.

They and the humans of that era had woven the early chapters of Earth's civilization together, taking on the role of "gods and monsters" in the records of civilization.

Vivian had lived through that era. Although her memories were inexplicably muddled—perhaps she had simply lived too long—she could still explain some of the basic circumstances. The most astonishing piece of information Hao Ren had heard from her was that... Zeus had actually existed. He had been a Thunder Giant, and there was something wrong with his head...

It was obvious that in the early days of contact between the others and humans, the former had possessed an overwhelming advantage. The others usually had special abilities far beyond human understanding, long lifespans, and astonishing vitality. They were also far more intelligent than early humans. The others held absolute dominion over humanity. Becoming a vicious god or savage beast that brought disaster upon the world, or becoming a primordial god who protected a region, was simply the result of whatever took their fancy at the moment. But as time passed, this situation changed. Vivian's memories were unreliable, so she wasn't sure how the others had suddenly declined. In any case, there had definitely been three major reasons. First, humans had gradually become civilized. When the others let their guard down, humans slowly learned to unite and created more advanced tools to oppose the tyrannical gods and monsters. The latter, however, had maintained relatively loose and independent small groups, making lone individuals easy to defeat one by one. Second, the others' races had inexplicably declined for unknown reasons. Third, the Demon Hunters appeared.

The third point was also the most important.

Demon Hunters were strange people with half-human blood. No one could explain how they had appeared, as though they had emerged from thin air. Once they appeared, they began hunting "others" all over the world. At first, they had not been called Demon Hunters. They had no fixed title, and people called them all sorts of things. It wasn't until the medieval period, when the European Church popularized the term "Demon Hunter," that the name gained widespread acceptance. At that time, Europe was the last place where the others still ran rampant. In other regions, the others had basically been wiped out by the locals working together with Demon Hunters. Thus, the European Church's classifications, titles, and definitions for the various others and Demon Hunters became the "final version," continuing all the way to the present day.

No one knew whether that counted as good luck or bad luck for Europe...

In any case, the activity of the Demon Hunters caused the "others" to gradually withdraw from center stage in Earth's civilization, changing from rulers into marginal figures. Although the others still possessed formidable power compared with ordinary people, they could no longer stir up much trouble.

That was what Hao Ren had heard from Vivian—the unbelievable side hidden behind the peaceful real world he had believed in for more than twenty years... But his worldview had already been rebuilt after a disaster, so whatever. Let it collapse.

As for the two superhuman women in his home, Hao Ren had also made a serious effort to learn more about them.

Lily was a "young Werewolf" with only a few decades of life experience, and she was also a veteran airhead, so she couldn't provide much information. Vivian, on the other hand, was supposedly a high-ranking Bloodkin who had lived for many years. When Hao Ren first heard about her background, he was shocked by her qualifications. She had been active in this world since before humans had invented currency, making her older than the histories of human civilization in many regions! Strangely, however, Vivian's own knowledge was quite limited. Her memories of several thousand years were hazy and confused, and apparently she had spent most of her time sleeping soundly in various places. Until modern times, human society had been extremely dull and boring to Vivian. Unlike her fellow Vampires, this eccentric veteran Vampire had never been keen on tormenting humans or "improving their tastes." She had spent most of her time dealing with her own terrible luck... In any case, she had muddled through all these years, and Hao Ren felt she absolutely deserved to be called a disgrace to Vampires.

But she was a good girl as far as humans were concerned.

He had no idea how she had formed such a worldview.

(An unexpected situation came up at noon... I couldn't get online, and I've only just managed to sort it out.)