Chapter 19 (1/2)

Hao Ren did not know what to feel when he was invited into his own home by Vivian. Sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room, two unusual creatures stood before him like children who did something wrong. Vivian looked embarrassed whereas Lily was both embarrassed and awkward. “I’m sorry, Landlord. I was quite surprised when this winged-fellow came back out all of a sudden. And that’s why I forgot to give you a call…” said Lily sheepishly.

Rollie was rubbing against Hao Ren’s leg. He was the most at ease among them, oblivious to the events that had happened hours ago. All he knew was to rub against his owner’s legs while he purred wholeheartedly.

Hao Ren waved his hands and the two girls with super human powers sat before him. He could not help but feel proud.

“Although my life is generally a mess, my brain is mostly confused and my future is uncertain… both the legendary werewolf and vampire still show respect towards me.. Ain’t this a sight…”

Although he took a little pride in it, he knew that Lily and Vivian were just being polite plus, both were also feeling a bit apologetic. It was just that both of their identities blew Hao Ren’s mind.

“Why did you fly away all of a sudden?” Hao Ren thought of his newly acquired ‘job’, feeling that it was his responsibility to be aware of the two girls’ whereabouts; in the case of any event, it would then be easier for him to report to Raven 12345.

Hao Ren was completely aware of his limits as a normal human being. He knew that he would not be able to control a werewolf and a vampire by himself in the long run. As he was looking for a solution, a self-proclaimed Goddess announced, “Gods shall be responsible for world peace”. Hao Ren of course had to take the opportunity to let this Goddess be his patron.

He knew that Vivian may not trust a newly acquainted human she just got to know a few days ago. Thus, he continued, “Please don’t mind me. I’m just curious and no matter what, I’m still the landlord. Also, you know you’re different….. At least I have to know where you’ve gone to when I can’t find you right? It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

“Well, it’s actually nothing.” Lily bit her lip, looking determined to tell Hao Ren. “It was just a misunderstanding. I thought some obnoxious fellows were tailing me and I wanted to deal with them somewhere further away. Then I realized I was just being oversensitive.”

“Obnoxious fellow?” Hao Ren glanced at Lily. “Some other werewolf?”

He could guess what Vivian meant by “the place not being safe”. It seemed that the vampire had other foes, enemies that held grudges against her from way back in time.

“Not werewolves,” Vivian answered as she threw Lily a dirty look. “We’ve been battling against werewolves for thousands of years and they’ve never had the advantage. Yes, they are a headache but they are still not considered a serious threat.”

“Stick to your own story! Don’t involve me in this!” Lily let out a threatening growl from the back of her throat as she licked her nails. “If you’re looking for a fight, let’s have another 300 rounds somewhere with plenty of bricks….”

“Can you please stop mentioning that brick throwing skill of yours?? Please reserve some dignity for the werewolves!” Hao Ren shouted.

Not paying any attention to Lily, Vivian explained with a straight face, “It’s the demon hunters. Some call them exorcists.”

A blockbuster came to Hao Ren’s mind. Getting excited, he asked, “You mean people like Van Helsing?”

“Stop fooling around. That’s a movie.” Vivian was not in the mood for jokes. She looked deeply troubled. “I’m talking about real demon hunters―fellows who are half human; they are monsters in the eyes of humans and us, ‘mutants. The battle between us and the demon hunters is never ending. We have never been able to completely vanquish the opponent. They worked on their own during earlier times but now, they work through many different religious organizations as well as normal humans…. And this is a problem.”

Hao Ren automatically felt the few sheets of paper in his pocket. A thought then came to his mind. Didn’t Raven 12345 and the Xi Ling Empire give him the task to take care of the ‘mutants staying in his home? On the other hand, it sounded like these demon hunters wanted to protect the human race… It was so horrifying thinking about what was behind all of this and how they were connected !