About Otherworldly Beings

Vivian's magical artifact might not work, but Hao Ren hadn't had another nightmare for three consecutive nights. He didn't think it had anything to do with the Bagua Plate, though.

One reason was that he knew the Bagua Plate wasn't designed for warding off evil. It was suited for feng shui, determining directions, or finding treasures, but using it to calm souls and expel demons was outside its intended purpose. The second reason was that he found a line of small text in a corner of the Bagua Plate, bearing the name of a woodworking factory in Sichuan... which completely ruined any mystique it might have had.

He decided not to tell Vivian the truth.

Regardless, not having nightmares was a good sign. Even though the wolf fur he'd brought back from his dream still made him uneasy, and Hao Ren was almost certain he was being targeted by something significant, he was good at self-persuasion. As long as Yao Ming was alive, he could be happy even if the sky fell – he'd ask Raven 12345 about the nightmares when he saw her.

Speaking of Raven 12345, Hao Ren had gone to find her a couple of days ago. After all, they hadn't clarified many things during their hurried farewell, and Hao Ren had accumulated quite a few questions at home. But when he went to look for her, he couldn't find the peculiar "goddess."

Hao Ren used the same method as last time, taking a bus to that frustratingly named "Wangba Tuozi," then finding the lamppost plastered with ads for traditional Chinese medicine doctors. He was successfully teleported to the upside-down mansion that might be located in another dimension, proving that his previous experience wasn't a dream. However, Raven 12345 was nowhere to be found in the mansion. Hao Ren only saw a few blue mist figures patrolling the garden and the main house – they were likely Raven 12345's servants. They appeared highly intelligent but couldn't speak human language, and Hao Ren felt he couldn't communicate with them at all.

A blue mist figure handed Hao Ren a note. Raven 12345 had written that she had urgent business in Centaurus and would return in about three to five days. If she got carried away, she might return in three to five years.

Then, Hao Ren was kicked out of the mansion by the blue servants, clutching the unreliable note.

"This is really unreliable..." Hao Ren sat in the living room, enjoying the air conditioning and reading a magazine. Thinking about his trip to the "Time-Space Administration Bureau's Wangba Tuozi Liaison Office" (that full name is important!) a couple of days ago gave him a headache. He wondered when Raven 12345 would actually return to answer his questions. Now, Hao Ren felt like he was shrouded in a fog, with countless things he couldn't understand or figure out. He didn't even know where to start asking questions, and the only one who could possibly tell him everything was an unreliable "goddess" who acted like a lunatic.

If he wasn't so easygoing, he felt his obsessive-compulsive tendencies alone would be enough to kill him.

Of course, over the past couple of days, he had also tried to learn about "Otherworldly Beings" from Vivian and Lily. How should he put it... he had gained some understanding, at least. He now had a clearer picture of Werewolves and Vampires, and a vague impression of the "world" that existed outside human society.

"Otherworldly Beings" – this was Hao Ren's subconscious term for Lily and Vivian. It was also what many humans called non-human entities. Even Lily and Vivian referred to themselves this way, and they didn't seem to mind.

The origin of Otherworldly Beings was unknown. It seemed their presence had been recorded in human history since ancient times, from the bizarre myths and monsters of antiquity to the vigorous church purges of demons in the Middle Ages and the demon-slaying in China, and even the occasional chilling stories in modern times. Vampires, Werewolves, demons, and undead beings were now just stories used to scare people for many. But in the era when these ancient stories were first formed, they were genuine "eyewitness accounts."

The vast majority of Otherworldly Beings posed a threat to humans. The initial conflicts were now untraceable, but it was certain that Otherworldly Beings and humans had been in constant friction even before recorded history. However, alongside this friction, many Otherworldly Beings had also had close contact with humans, even living alongside them. In humanity's cave-dwelling era, Otherworldly Beings were the original gods or ferocious beasts in those ancient stories. Many ancient texts that have survived to this day mention "divine people" and "extraordinary people" with animal features or six arms, or strange-looking mutated monsters that defied evolutionary theory. Some of these records were the imagination and exaggeration of ancient people, some were deformed children born from inbreeding and disease in ancient times, and the rest were basically truly existing Otherworldly Beings.

They, along with the humans of that time, wove the early chronicles of Earth's civilization and served as the "gods and monsters" in the records of civilization.

Vivian had experienced that era. Although her memory was somewhat confused for some reason (perhaps she had lived too long?), she could still provide some basic information. The most shocking piece of intelligence Hao Ren heard from her was... Zeus was indeed a real person, a giant of thunder, and he was also quite foolish...

It was evident that in the early stages of contact between Otherworldly Beings and humans, the former held an overwhelming advantage. Otherworldly Beings typically possessed special abilities far beyond human comprehension, had long lifespans, were resilient, and were significantly smarter than early humans. Otherworldly Beings held an absolute dominant position over humans. They would cause trouble on a whim, becoming malevolent gods and beasts that harmed all living beings, or becoming primitive deities that protected a region – essentially, it was the result of their capricious whims. However, as time went on, this situation changed. Vivian's memory was unreliable, so she wasn't sure how Otherworldly Beings suddenly declined. What was certain were three main reasons: First, humans gradually became enlightened. When the Otherworldly Beings let their guard down, humans gradually learned to unite and create more sophisticated tools to fight against the tyrannical gods and monsters, while the latter maintained relatively loose and independent small groups, making it easy to defeat them one by one. Second, the Otherworldly Being populations inexplicably declined (reason unknown). Third, Demon Hunters appeared.

The third point was the most important.

Demon Hunters were strange beings with half human blood. No one could explain how they appeared, as if they came out of nowhere. Once they appeared, they began hunting "Otherworldly Beings" all over the world. Demon Hunters didn't have this name initially; they had various titles at first. It wasn't until the Middle Ages that the European Papacy popularized the term "Demon Hunter," and this designation gained widespread recognition. At that time, Europe was the last region where Otherworldly Beings ran rampant (Otherworldly Beings in other regions had basically been wiped out by the locals and Demon Hunters. Therefore, the European Papacy's classification, terminology, and definitions of various Otherworldly Beings and Demon Hunters became the "final version," continuing to this day.

It's hard to say if this was good fortune or misfortune for the European region...

In short, the active presence of Demon Hunters led to "Otherworldly Beings" gradually withdrawing from the grand stage of Earth's civilization, transforming from rulers to outsiders. Although Otherworldly Beings still possessed great power (compared to ordinary people), they could basically no longer cause significant trouble.

This was what Hao Ren learned from Vivian. It was the unbelievable other side hidden behind the reality he had believed to be calm for over twenty years... But his worldview had already been rebuilt after the disaster, so he didn't mind if it collapsed again.

Hao Ren also seriously inquired about the two female superheroes at his home.

Lily was a "young Werewolf" with only a few decades of life experience and was a seasoned idiot, so she couldn't provide much information. Vivian, on the other hand, was said to be a high-level Blood Clan member who had lived for many years. Hao Ren was shocked by her credentials when he first heard about it: she had been active in this world since before humans invented currency. She could be said to be older than the human civilization history of many regions! But strangely, Vivian's knowledge was also limited. Her memories of thousands of years were somewhat hazy. It was said that she mostly slept in various places. Until modern times, human society was quite dull and uninteresting to Vivian. This eccentric, seasoned Vampire wasn't like her kin who were passionate about manipulating humans or "improving their taste." She spent most of her time dealing with her own bad luck... Living so many years in such a dazed state, Hao Ren felt she was definitely a disgrace to Vampires.

But for humans, she was a good girl.

He wondered how her worldview had formed.

(Encountered a special situation at noon... couldn't access the webpage. Just managed to fix it now.)