Chapter 9: Unusual Creatures
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After making a hot pot of tea, Hao Ren went back to the living room. He looked at the two unusual creatures sitting there and staring at each other.
A wary vampire and a furious Lily sat at opposite ends of the tea table, both ready to pick a fight at any moment. The atmosphere was cold and filled with raw energy as they threw deadly glances at each other. Hao Ren could almost see the greenish-grey cloud on the tea table revolving non-stop with his naked eye. Tea was served and both beautiful girls had no intention on setting aside their differences. During such an intense moment, Hao Ren could only shrug. It was the only way his fragile human body could cope with the immense pressure from both the werewolf and vampire. He was trying his best to figure out a way to make both of them believe what the other had to say.
Lily firmly believed that the vampire had the intention of sucking her landlord’s blood and everything the vampire said were just excuses for not being able to win the fight (she also wondered why the vampire was so self confident). Apart from that, Lily was certain that Hao Ren was already under the vampire’s spell and what came out of his mouth was nonsense. On the other hand, the vampire was adamant that Lily wanted to live under cover among the humans and everything Hao Ren said was due to the werewolf’s intimidation…
It was a deadlock. Both did not trust one another as well as the third party, who was Hao Ren! To make matters worse, there was no one else there…
In actual fact however, there was another party present. It was the black and white cat eating not far away. Oblivious to the chill in the room, the mysterious creature named Rollie was protecting its bowl of food as if protecting its own life. Hao Ren was quite convinced that the naive cat was an ‘oddball’ of its kind.
"You…" It was Hao Ren who finally broke the silence. He turned towards the vampire, where all the misunderstandings stemmed from. "Miss vampire, this meant that last night…"
"Please do not address me using the word ‘vampire’," said the plainly clad but still elegant girl with long, black hair as she frowned slightly. "Vampires are only common slaves with an uncontrollable desire to suck on blood. We, the ones who can restrain ourselves from the lust of blood are of royal blood in the Blood Clan. There are deep misunderstandings that humans have towards us hence, the confusion. You can call me Vivian; I can’t give you my full name for the time being."
"Oh." Hao Ren nodded. Hao Ren did not know the differences between a normal-blooded slave and a royal-blooded clan member. Even so, he knew that the girl with long, black hair in front of him was actually quite easy going. "Vivian. So, you’re saying that you weren’t attacking us last night? Instead, you were trying to help?"
"I saw a human walking with a werewolf. I did not know whether you were being deceived or threatened," Vivian said as she nodded in agreement. "I intended to snatch you away from the werewolf. No matter what spell she cast on you, it can easily be overcome as a werewolf’s magic is amateur. However, I was not at my best yesterday since…. since I was hurt by her concealed weapon. Beasts will be beasts. They will go to any lengths during battle. There is no aesthetics at all."
"You’re being unreasonable," Lily snorted. "Why find so many excuses. The fact is you just can’t beat me. Tell me, how did I threaten Landlord? He could have ran and jumped away anytime. I was not holding his neck."
The chill around Vivian grew stronger. "Werewolves’ claws are cursed. Do you think I am that stupid to not know such common knowledge?"
Upon hearing this, Lily immediately looked down at her own hands in astonishment saying, "Oh my goodness, am I that powerful?"
Hao Ren decided not to pay any attention to the two silly creatures. He turned to Vivian and with a sincere expression on his face said, "Look, I was not threatened at all! I swear to God that Lily did not put me under her spell!"
Vivian nodded her head upon hearing Hao Ren’s explanation. Just as Hao Ren was beginning to feel glad that the vamp… teenage girl from the Blood Clan had finally acknowledged the facts, Vivian’s facial expression turned serious. She then said, "Don’t worry. I know that you’re still not telling the truth. You’re still bound to the werewolf’s curse and unconfident in my ability. I’ll show you once I’ve fully recovered. This wild canine, who only knows how to throw bricks will be no match for a high-order member of the Blood Clan!"
Lily slammed her fist on the tea table after hearing this, leaving a big crack in the shape of a turtle shell on the table. "Who are you calling a wild canine?! You winged rat!"
Without suppressing her anger, Vivian also stood up. The tea table and sofa were covered in a layer of frost in a blink of an eye. "You think you’re that powerful? Let’s have a rematch! It’s because of folks like you who cannot control their instincts that made the world what it is today."
The murderous tension, which was initially confined to the tea table started to pervade the entire atmosphere. All the shouting followed by roaring which sent chills down one’s spine as well as indistinctive howling finally alerted Rollie to the situation. Rollie quickly wolfed down a couple more mouthfuls of food and darted to the first floor. Hao Ren was left to stare at his own furniture.
"My tea table…"
How he was able to withstand the murderous tension was a mystery.
"Landlord, do not worry. I’ll pay for the damage." Lily was a kind person at heart. After realizing her mistake, she pushed her boiling fury aside and immediately apologized to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren managed to make sense of the whole situation; the werewolf was a silly one whereas the one from the Blood Clan was just insane! Although Vivian had a normal appearance, she was neither smarter nor saner than Lily. Would it have hurt to have someone who had both brains and brawn at the same time?
As Lily and Vivian prepared to have another go at each other in the living room, Hao Ren finally lost his patience. He slammed his fist on the tea table and with an authoritative voice, he shouted, "That’s enough! This is my house!!!"
The yelling and fist slamming were actions rarely seen from someone who was good-natured and slow like Hao Ren. Both vampire and werewolf were finally aware that they were in someone’s house. Moreover, one of them realized she owed the landlord money for the broken tea table. Thus, both halted and turned their eyes to Hao Ren.
"Why are the two of you looking at me?" Hao Ren frightened himself when he yelled at the two ‘mutants’. He did not expect himself to have the audacity to shout at two magnificent creatures that could easily take his life (yet his roar alone managed to stop the two from fighting). In doing so, he felt a sense of maturity thus, he was brave enough to say, "Look at yourselves. One is an idiot and the other is as stubborn as a mule! I am involved in this, okay! Can both of you not jump to conclusions and ignore what I have to say?! And also.... just think for a moment whether your actions suit your identity. When did werewolves and vampires start protecting humans with their lives? Let me, the person who’s most confused about this situation figure this out first. Then, we will sort out the misunderstandings between the both of you. Okay?"
The last question was actually on Hao Ren’s mind the whole time. In a digitally advanced era where information can be easily exchanged, everyone knew the story between vampires and werewolves. One could easily find that at least 2 out of 10 science fiction movies involved these two creatures. Based on Hao Ren’s perception, blood-hungry and irrational werewolves as well as sinister and grim vampires were both creatures as sharp as a tack. So… what was wrong with these two in front of him?
Surprisingly, both Lily and Vivian shouted at the same, "I am different from that wild animal!"
Both looked at each other with an air of surprise and immediately looked away, each believing themselves to be telling the truth.
"I have no idea about the others who pick fights with the humans as though they can’t survive without doing so. As far as I am aware of, I have been mingling with humans since, forever," Vivian said whilst hugging herself. "Also, I inherently… hate others of the Blood Clan. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea myself. I’ve been like this since I was young and I’m not used to seeing other ‘mutants’ fighting humans. They’re just too stupid. So that’s that."
"I’ve never met other ‘mutants’." Lily sniffed the air like she was not fond of Vivian’s scent. "I woke up in a freezing place. Might have been a snowy region. I was in human form when I woke up. I was brought up by an old lady and I also lived with humans for several decades after that. I’ll only move when they start having doubts about me not aging. I like humans and I am used to them. Is there a problem with this?"
Hao Ren surveyed the two unusual creatures and decided to believe them.
Well, whether he believed them or not, there was actually no difference. He was still no match for either one.
Chapter 10: A Broke Vampire
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Frosty air and low pressure still lingered in the living room but fortunately, the two culprits seemed to have given up on the idea of starting a fight.
Hao Ren sighed and started to pick up the frozen blocks of tea cups (they also cracked due to the freezing temperatures). He looked at the tea table, which was destroyed and thought to himself.
"In life, 8 or 9 out of 10 people end up being unlucky. The remaining ones though, are actually even more unlucky…"
However, both Vivian and Lily were starting to believe what each other had to say. Well, maybe not completely but at least they had promised not to continue fighting. As long as the other party did not let the cat out of the bag, they would at least maintain a neutral stance.
This was the result of intense persuasion from Hao Ren which comprised of an hour long of facts, reasoning as well as appealing to one’s sense of justice. Hao Ren took up all the courage he had as the owner of the property and forced the two to patiently hear what each other had to say. Additionally, he tried to prove that what he said was the truth. Lily gave evidence that she did not threaten Hao Ren by calling Rollie out as a witness. She also showed Vivian that there were no trails of blood on her hands thus, Hao Ren was not cursed. Seeing that Lily was a bit silly, Vivian decided to trust her. To prove that she was able to curb her blood sucking tendencies, Vivian asked Hao Ren to take out a piece of blood tofu made from duck’s blood…
To be honest, Hao Ren felt that the way Vivian proved herself was not very convincing at all. Yet astonishingly, Lily believed Vivian after witnessing her display… Would you have believed something a silly person chose to believe?
In that temporary moment of peace, Hao Ren finally had the opportunity to ask what Vivian’s intention was for coming by in the morning. It was obvious that Vivian was shocked when she first saw him so it did not seem like she was looking for someone in the first place.
Vivian nodded and fished out a piece of colorful paper from her bag. "Well, I followed the address written on this paper. I’m looking for a room to rent."
Sitting beside her, Lily was staring at the damaged tea table with a penitent look on her face. She immediately transformed into her werewolf form and her ears were upright, aware of her surroundings. A sense of foreboding flooded her!
Hao Ren was also stunned. Taking the piece of paper from Vivian, he realized it was cut out of a newspaper. It was the ad he posted up a couple of days ago! He had not been putting up the ad for the last six months but once he did business came knocking on his door!
However, why were all his potential tenants abnormal?!
"Erm…. This is the correct address." Hao Ren had a weird expression on his face. He had no idea what went wrong in his life. He looked at Vivian from head to toe and surveyed her. "You came here to rent a room?"
"Yup." Vivian answered whilst continuously nodding her head.
Hao Ren asked impetuously, "Of all places… why did you come to my place…"
Hao Ren actually meant why bizarre and abnormal things kept happening to him but Vivian misunderstood his point. She answered innocently, "It’s because your place is cheap and I have no money. I found out I could only afford the rent here after searching everywhere. I really don’t want to live in the deserted outskirts or cemeteries like I had in the past."
Hao Ren had his mouth open, shocked at hearing about the vampire’s lifestyle.
"Aren’t vampires supposed to be dark lords of the night? Why is this vampire in front of me so different?"
"Yes, the rent here is definitely cheap. If you don’t mind the location being secluded, you can stay here," Hao Ren nodded and answered. Unable to cry or laugh, living under the same roof with a vampire would make no difference as he already had a werewolf living there. He could not foresee the days ahead being average or normal. He let it be and allowed the vampire to stay. At least his life would be full of surprises. "However, I have to say something upfront. Both of you must stay out of trouble… Of course, I will not tell anyone about your true identities. I’m more afraid of you killing the eyewitnesses."
Committing murder however was the least of Hao Ren’s worries. Both ladies in front of him were significantly different from what he had learned from stories. Ignoring the fact that they were the odd ones among their own race, the girls looked quite harmless.
As Hao Ren and Vivian were about to reach an agreement, Lily suddenly slammed the desk and stood up saying, "Wait! This winged rat will also be living here? Under the same roof?" The slowness of her reactions had no bounds…
BANG! Unable to withstand the pressure anymore, the cracked tea table finally gave way and collapsed onto the floor.
"You think I’m willing to live under the same roof with a beast?!" Vivian retaliated. She was also hot-tempered. However, remembering her promise to agree to a truce, she did not emanate any cold air. "If I wasn’t broke, I would have never come here!"
Hao Ren suddenly felt that rejecting Vivian might have been the right thing to do. He was definitely looking for trouble letting these two stay in the same house. It did not seem like they would be able to proceed with the truce with such tempers! Also, Hao Ren was not that desperate for income from the rent…
However, he had already agreed to it and changing his mind then would be inappropriate. He could only try comforting a sulking Lily. "It’s going to be alright. Vivian does not look like a bad person. And I’ve already agreed….. Let her stay here for the time being… Argh… No! I am the owner of this house, this is my home! Why am I even discussing this with you?!"
Hao Ren finally remembered that it was his territory. When did those two girls become the owner?
He was starting to get confused due to the tension between the two ladies as well as the string of events that happened earlier.
Lily smiled bashfully, This was all different from the legends. The curious and easy going werewolf shrugged and bobbed her head. "The decision is yours to make. But I still dislike this winged beast."
"That’s more like it." Hao Ren nodded, hugging himself. He was planning in his mind how he was going to let his two abnormal tenants live under the same roof in harmony… Living in harmony was out of the question... preventing them from bringing the house down was more like it. He was already dreading a life full of chaos. If it was possible he would have liked to have the two of them out of his house. However, there were two problems. Firstly, although both girls seemed to be easy going, it was not a smart move to offend them. Asking them to leave without any valid reason could have caused problems and Hao Ren was not ready to risk it. Also, he knew that he was no match for either one of the two girls with superhuman powers. If his words failed him, he would have been completely lost and it would have been hard for him to back down.
Due to these two reasons, he concluded that it was impossible for a normal human being to bargain with two beasts!!
No matter how complicated things were, Hao Ren was determined. With his meager strength, he tried to think of a way to protect his somewhat ‘normal’ life, which was about to end. While he was in deep thought, there was a loud cry beside him.
"Oh, my purse!"
Vivian jumped up from the sofa; the elegance she carried majority of the time completely vanished. She had lost her purse.
"It must have happened last night… last night when I was knocked out by this bastard. I have no idea where my purse is!" Vivian rummaged through her bag. Finally, she glared at Lily and said, "You dumb mutt! That was all the living expenses I had left! Pay me back!"
Although slightly embarrassed, Lily turned away. "Do not put the blame on others for your own mistakes. It’s good that you can’t afford rent now. I won’t have to look at that dumb face of yours."
Moments later however, she turned her head towards Vivian. "Maybe try having a look at the front door and the streets nearby? Perhaps you dropped it on the road."
This proved that the silly werewolf was in fact kind.
"I flew a vast distance last night, in search for a place with bright moonlight to recover," Vivian sobbed. "How would I know where I dropped it... my remaining living expenses. I’ve been saving for a long time… I’ve already lost my money four times this month... and that was the last of it!"
Hao Ren’s eyebrow twitched.
"How could this vampire be so unlucky?! What’s happened to this so called dark lord of the night?"
Nevertheless, it did not take long for Hao Ren to realize that it was actually a good thing. He did not need to worry about epic battles happening between the werewolf and the vampire in the future. He had a good and valid reason for Vivian to leave.
Maintaining peace was the way to go!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
10 Power
stone 
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