Residence Of Monsters - LightNovelsOnl.com
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As August came to a close, at dusk on a midsummer's day, the tangerine sun shone, it's scorching warmth leading forth an overflow of sweat excreted from the very pores of the skin. The thunder shower that had occurred at noon had not diminished the summer heat, the resulting steaming mist had actually caused the air to catch on a clammy sort of sultriness.
"Freshmen are only allowed to check in tomorrow morning." The uncle standing in the guardhouse had a head of grey scruffy hair and wore a pair of Mike Arthur sungla.s.ses; pulling open the little window of the gla.s.s wall, he put on a sour face and spit at the hothead that had disturbed his break.
"What?" Feng Ping Lan1 startled. His hand held onto a melting ice cube that had fallen from his frozen treat onto his sandals. He raised his head to look behind the guardhouse at the student dormitories, the light blue storied building a pitch black, clearly showing that that there was absolutely n.o.body moving about in there. He was not convinced. "But the notice letter said that the date was 24th August!"
"Why don't you verify it again?" The administrator furrowed his eyebrows, picked up a gla.s.s of iced lemon tea and drank a mouthful. He impatiently warned, "Close the window, or the air-conditioning will escape!"
"Oh, alright." Feng Ping Lan held the frozen treat in his mouth and closed the window, then putting down his bag to start searching through it.
He poured everything from his bag out. And there was suddenly a mountain of snacks on the floor. There were all sorts of snacks there, sweet ones, salty ones, hot and cold. An ice box emitted a chilly white smoke; to the side was a flaky chicken pastry that wafted a garlicky and meaty fragrance. The administrator frowned, pulling the window open once more. "Going on a hike? Or are you part of a disaster relief?" "I thought today was the day the freshmen would come in, so I bought snacks to share with my roommates." Feng Ping Lan, after searching for a long while could not seem to find what he was searching for and shook his head, "That's weird… Where did it disappear to… ah!" He suddenly remembered, when he was eating mangoes on the train earlier, he had used the notice letter to wipe his hands and to dispose of the mango skin. "You lost it?" The administrator took in another mouthful of iced tea, and asked irritably. "Yeah. But I'm absolutely sure it said 24th August, I'm placed in room 384." Feng Ping Lan licked at the frozen treat that was about to melt off, bent his head to the side and thought for a bit, "Mm, maybe everyone else got the wrong date, and I'm the only one who came on the correct day, hahaha." The administrator did not smile. "It's just a day early anyway, so if you have to be super strict about it, there's only six hours left until it's 25th August. Can't you bend the rules a bit and let me in first? I won't be up to anything bad, please, I beg you!" Feng Ping Lan clasped his two palms together at his forehead, a sincere look on his face. The administrator glanced coldly at Feng Ping Lan, "The dormitory's supervisor and teachers on night duty aren't here yet, and they're the ones who have the key. You can't go in without that." He snorted impatiently, "I'm also not supposed to simply let any students in. Before there was two d.a.m.n kids who came on a weekend, who said that they came to take a few things, then what happened? Those two ended up having intercourse in their rooms, and even took videos of it to put online. The school had to interfere, and I ended up getting involved!" The administrator grunted angrily, crunching a few ice cubes in his mouth. "That's really just too tragic," Feng Ping Lan nodded emphatically, and started trying to sell his trustworthiness. "But don't worry! I'm just one person, I definitely will not be able to do that sort of thing, if you still can't trust me, I'll eat up all the jellies in my bag, attach a piece a sandpaper to my right hand, and seal off anything that can be considered a tool to do anything lewd," he solemnly vowed. The administrator put out a disgusted expression, "Whether or not you can get yourself in trouble is not the question, the point is that I don't want to cause trouble for myself, so I won't let you in." "Is that so…" Feng Ping Lan despaired a little. "Don't you have a few relatives close by?" "I don't have any." "Find a hotel to stay a night in then." "That's a good suggestion, but there's a problem." Feng Ping Lan scratched his face, and spoke distressedly, "I'm a bit short of money, and I won't be able to afford a hotel." "You came abroad to study, but didn't bring any money with you?" "I had quite a lot of money two hours ago." Feng Ping Lan laughed hollowly. This was the first time leaving his home, and independently living on his own. He had excitedly simply bought a bunch of things, including necessities that 'looked like he needed it' and things food that 'would be eaten one day', and also a second-hand bicycle that had looked appropriate to buy on a shopping trip. If he spent any more on a hotel fee, his allowance this month would already equal zero. The administrator looked at the junk food piled up in front of him, and sighed, "From which cla.s.s are you? What's your name? I'll make a call towards the school affairs director, he'll contact your homeroom teacher, who'll help you handle this matter." "Oh oh! You don't need to!" To create a bad impression on the homeroom teacher even before school reopened, this wasn't a good thing! "Oh, I suddenly remembered, I have an aunt and a great uncle that lives near here, I'll go find them." "Oh, is that so?" The administrator nodded his head, and picked out the lemon slices in his gla.s.s of lemon tea, crunching them in his mouth. "Do so then, don't stay here and complicate things." Feng Ping Lan breathed out a sigh of relief, and squatted down to put all his snacks back into his bag. The administrator looked at Feng Ping Lan's back, and lazily said, "Be careful on your way out." "Oh, thanks." "I heard that recently there's a drunkard that's been creating problems in the park nearby." "Oh, alright, I'll keep that in mind." "The mountain area's public order would be a better place. That place has a beautiful field, yet there's no one living there, what a waste of resources." The administrator spoke a few meaningless words to him. "Oh, alright, I'll keep that in mind." Putting those words into the corner of his mind, Feng Ping Lan picked up his bag and stood up. "Right, this is for you." He took out two popsicles and gave it to the administrator, and also from the plastic bag on his wrist he took out bit of chicken cutlet and a bottle of soda, putting it on the desk. "And these, I can't eat them all by myself." "Mmhm." The administrator simply grunted an acknowledgement, his sungla.s.ses not revealing his expression and thoughts. "Bye, see you tomorrow!" Feng Ping Lan waved at the administrator, and walked down the road, straddling across a weird pink ladies’ bicycle, and went off. Feng Ping Lan rode on the bicycle, loitering around the streets. It was currently eight at night, the sky transitioning from a romantic orange to a deep purple. The bicycle's basket had a bag of local chocolate beans, and he ate some while he rode on it. Luckily his luggage would only be sent over tomorrow, so he wouldn't need to worry about having to sign the delivery. He thought optimistically. "Where should I go?" His bicycle turned into a small alley, pa.s.sing through the public park. "To the park?" No, the park was not a good place to stay. There were drunkards there, and he didn't want to become the appetizer for them along with their alcohol. Continuing with his journey, he looked afar, and realized that the road connecting to the end of the alley was an up slope. He could see the mountain silently standing upright against the night sky. "The mountain area seems to be a good idea…" The administrator guy had told him that the plains were a good option. Feng Ping Lan rode uphill while eating his chocolates, then munching on his salted chicken pastries. The shops nearby began to lessen, and when he realized it, he had arrived at the border of the outskirts, at the foot of the mountain. Feng Ping Lan breathed heavily, his s.h.i.+rt stained with sweat and his ears a deep red. "It's so hot…" The nightly breeze blew past, but it could not help cool him down. The scorching air, the bicycle ride for more than two hours, plus the fried foods that he had consumed, all contributed to the body heat that acc.u.mulated on Feng Ping Lan. His ears throbbed, and his blood rushed through his veins as if they were about to explode. G.o.d, would he die right here? He slowly rode upwards with his fever-ridden body. There were no shops on either side of the road, the residences becoming lesser and lesser, and he spotted another building only about ten meters away. Ah… Will I be forced to sleep in the open now? G.o.d, at least give me a sheltered roof to hide from the rain, why don't you… Just when the thought crossed his mind, a pure white tall building caught his attention. It was a beautiful European-style building, but the front courtyard's weeds and the gloomy windows made the entire building seem dismal and sinister in the dead of the night. The second floor had a few windows that were still open, and the gla.s.s had cobwebs on them, showing its glistening silk in the moonlight. A huge uninhabited residence that had been abandoned by its owner. "Oh oh! This isn't bad at all! I choose you!" Feng Ping Lan happily jumped off his bicycle and walked up to the steel fence. The tall entrance gates had been locked shut, and he took great effort in climbing over the steel fence, jumping down and walking towards the residence. He did not notice, that this residence was located halfway up the mountain, especially further away from the other residences, as if it had been purposefully avoided, existing all by itself on its own. He also did not notice, other than the front courtyard's overgrown weeds, this 'abandoned' residence was kept in perfect condition, and there were no signs of anyone daring to trespa.s.s and vandalize the building. He further more did not notice, the residence's grey walls were plastered full of seals that were meant to ward off evil spirits, and a warning sign that said— "Danger! Danger! Do not enter!" "Ghosts! There are ghosts!" "There are evil spirits here! Leave immediately!" Feng Ping Lan crossed the weed-filled courtyard, and walked towards the main house. He pushed golden doork.n.o.b that had a huge layer of dust on it, realizing that it was locked. To be sure, he pressed the doorbell. But there wasn't a sound and n.o.body answered. "Hm, maybe there's another entrance…" He walked around the house's compound. He couldn't find another door, but located a gla.s.s window. It seemed like he would just have to find himself a way in. "Please excuse me for this!" Feng Ping Lan bowed at the window, and picked up a stone in the compound, throwing it at the gla.s.s. Bang! An ear-piercing sound cut through the silent night. In the silent s.p.a.ce of the residence, an undetected hidden presence faintly started to wake. There's someone… A lowly despicable intruder… Who is it this time? No matter what, let's entertain him nicely, hehe… Soundless whispers echoed throughout the house, only to be heard by the ones concealed by darkness. Feng Ping Lan who was currently outside stared at the window in front of him, vexed. After shattering the gla.s.s he realized that the window was too narrow, and although it could fit him, the sides had little bits of sharp gla.s.s surrounding it and he would definitely get cut by them. Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, helplessly walking around the compound once more, realizing that there wasn't any more ways in from the first floor. What should he do now? Build a makes.h.i.+ft bed on the floor? But there were many mosquitoes around, and there were wild dogs nearby… Just when Feng Ping Lan distressedly circled the house, he suddenly realized that the door that had been locked earlier was now unlocked, the snow white door facing inwards, revealing a dark crack as if it was inviting him him. Are you brave enough to come in? Human… If you're scared, leave this place im— "Oh yeah! Lucky!" Feng Ping Lan shouted loudly, pus.h.i.+ng open the door and walking in to look about. Very good. Even though he did not know why, but his luck was incredibly good! The old residence had been abandoned for years, and anything could happen, so maybe he had broken the lock when he pushed at the door, hahaha! He really hoped that the bathroom was usable, because he was craving for a cold shower. His skin was clammy, and the heat was unable to escape from his body. He felt like he was going to die from a heatwave. …He entered… …Make him go away! In the tightly-shut chamber, a big gust of wind appeared with no reason at all, sweeping through Feng Ping Lan's pathway. The strong wind brushed past, filling the room with cool air, a deadly silent wind that increased the pressure in the atmosphere. Leave, in the direction of this wind, get away from he— "Mm! Haaa…" Feng Ping Lan let out a pleasurable groan, as if he was being released from a heavy load. Because he had eaten a lot of chocolates and fatty foods which had made his body heat shoot up, the chilly wind was extremely enjoyable, and cooled him down a lot. …He's still there… …Why is he moaning… Is he sick? Very interesting, hehehe… Feng Ping Lan continued to walk through the hallway. The hallway had a few portraits on the walls as decorations which seemed to stare at Feng Ping Lan as he moved about. Feng Ping Lan walked a few steps, feeling something unsettling and stopped his movements, in front of a certain portrait. It looked to be a family portrait, its size smaller than any other portraits in the hallway. It carried a dark and old-fas.h.i.+oned feel to it, seven people sitting in it, every person having features that transcended any normal human-being's; the male that sat in the middle had a face that was faded and distorted, as if someone had used a thumb to rub away his features before the photo had dried. The seven people sat in a gorgeous room, gazing forward gloomily, eyes glazed as if their souls had left them. Feng Ping Lan stared at the picture, smiling and raising a finger to brush against each and every face. "With these many people together, they should be smiling…" He pulled back, and turned away to continue walking through dark house. He was not scared. He was used to being in the dark, and was used to being by himself. It wasn't because he was especially brave, but rather than ghosts, he had fears that were greater than them… Pa dong! dong! kaka— A sound came through the second floor, as if things were being destroyed, then the sound of wood snapping under the feet of someone. Pa dong! dong! dong— Feng Ping Lan raised his head to look above, frowning then quickly turning back to leave the room. He's gone… I’ll count him as smart… Three minutes later, the same silhouette arrived once more. The deeply secluded residents felt shocked and confused. He came back? Just why… Feng Ping Lan had come back, this time with his large bag, hugging an electric pot, on his arm hanging a big plastic bag stuffed full of junk food. As soon as he stepped in, the air was instantly filled with the strong smell of meat and garlic. "Bringing it in would be safer." Feng Ping Lan looked at the snacks in his hands with a relieved gaze. Listening the the earlier sounds reminded him of the wild dogs outside, and if he put the food outside it would probably be stolen. The house would at most probably just have rats, which by using a few peanuts would do the job. He's coming closer… The presences hidden away in the dark started to panic. Don't let him! Feng Ping Lan's shadow started to elongate, rising above the ground to stand upright. The twisted and unstable shadow raised two constantly warping hands towards Feng Ping Lan's neck. "Ah!" Feng Ping Lan gasped, and lowered his head. Just at this moment, the shadow jumped through empty s.p.a.ce. The shadow failed to attach to a living body, and as a last act transformed into a black cloud in the air, returning to the darkness. Feng Ping Lan stared at his own clothes, where a large amount of blood stained it. The scent of blood… The hidden presences were confused. Is it your doing? No… Then why… The blood continued to drip, and Feng Ping Lan raised his hand to wipe his face, realizing a hint of wetness beneath his nose. Fresh red blood leaked from his nose. The heat that had acc.u.mulated in his body entered and expanded his blood vessels, rus.h.i.+ng to his nose and breaking through the mucous membrane, seeking shelter with the open air. "Ah, this is bad this is bad!" Feng Ping Lan used his hand to cover his nose. He didn't have any tissue paper, and the only piece of paper he had had already been used to wrap the mango skin. He felt the blood leaking through, dripping onto the ground. What should he do? There should be something that could be used as paper in this huge house… He'll find the toilet first! He continued his footsteps, into the innermost part of the house. A pair of doors blocked his way, the two doors had no handle, and beautiful golden patterns marked onto them. Feng Ping Lan unconsciously pushed open the doors. The instant those blood-stained hands touched the doors, the air quaked faintly, a protective screen appearing on the rupture, instantly disintegrating. He's here— He's come in— Pus.h.i.+ng open the doors revealed a wide and high-ceiling hall, only containing six large sculptures. Feng Ping Lan walked in front of the six sculptures. Each of them were perfectly detailed. These six sculptures were sculpted using pure white stones, skillfully crafted, vividly realistic, and even though they had human features, they looked otherworldly. To the furthermost left was a long-haired female, most of the face covered by her hair, only revealing one eye and a bit of the side of her head. She wore a low-cut armor, a pair of feathered wings spread out at the back; she held a huge halberd in her hands, the end of its edge bifurcating into two forks. Not far away stood a boy, two horns growing out of his forehead, wearing a chinese cheongsam and holding the type of long sword that frequently appeared in wuxia shows. Gaze moving to the back, he saw a tall and st.u.r.dy man in a leaping pose, as if it was a stop motion from a piece of film. Claws extended from both of his hands, his legs transformed into a feline-like beastly foot, his entire being emitting a feral odor. Next was a man that had a demonic smile, an insect-like pair of wings growing out of his back and holding a long whip that had a sharp needle at the end of it. As he went right, a man stood humbly, hands placed at the front, as if he was an attendant silently waiting for his master's orders. His hands were marked with a complicated totem tattoo, the tip of the totem coming off his skin, its intense drawing etched on the weapon in his hands. Feng Ping Lan looked through the sculptures one by one, gaze fixing onto the middle. The sculpture in the middle stood to the innermost, it was the tallest and the most inhuman. It was of an attractive man that was shouting, both hands each holding a long sword, his upper half bare and two plumed wings growing out of his back; yet his lower half had the appearance of a snake. Stately, heroic. Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but swallow his saliva, strangely trembling in his heart. The six sculptures were like G.o.dly beings, unnatural, transcending reality that had stopped moving in this void s.p.a.ce. The house was dark, and Feng Ping Lan couldn't see their features very clearly, but he could tell that every sculpture had extraordinary appearances. The six of them had features similar to the people in the portrait earlier. "Wow!" Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but sigh in admiration, "They're so beautiful…" He looked at the six tall silhouettes, looking at each character's features, as well as their inhuman characteristics. The hand holding his nose unconsciously relaxed, and blood travelled down his fingers, palm then onto the floor. Following Feng Ping Lan's footsteps were traces of messy red marks. The magic circle branded on the floor was cut apart by every trace of blood, disturbed; The boundaries of the seal was ravaged into a broken network, about to break at any time. Feng Ping Lan came to the center of the room, footsteps stopped in front of the half-man half-snake sculpture. He lifted his head, solemn face. The grieved and resentful expression made his attractive features seem twisted and malevolent; the stone eyes were not distant, but it was hard to distinguish the strong emotions in it. And below his eyes was a moist pearl, it was a teardrop. The entire sculpture wafted a formidable presence, making him feel fearful, but also making him feel… reluctant to part with it. He instantaneously forgot that this was a sculpture, raising a hand to touch its face, his fingers brus.h.i.+ng across the tear, wanting to wipe it away. The fresh blood on his palm dripped onto the sculpture. Cha! The damaged boundary at this moment was destroyed, a ear-piercing grinding sound travelling through the air. Feng Ping Lan was startled by the sound, trembled for a moment and put his hand down. What was that sound? A thief? Ah, what if the thief misunderstood that he was also a thief?! Feng Ping Lan waited restlessly waited at his spot for a while, but there were no movements. The whole room became silent once more. He shrugged his shoulders, putting his belongings onto the floor, going around the room to find a bathroom. Although there was dust on the floor, it was still clean. He opened to realize that there was luckily still tap water. After casually was.h.i.+ng his body, he donned a pair of boxer shorts on his bare skin, returning to the room. "Huhuhu…" Cool and refreshed, he wiped his hair while looking at the sculptures. In that moment he realized, it was as if the sculptures were looking back at him. He felt as if there was something different about them, as if… they had become more realistic? As he stared at them, he yawned. He must have been too tired and started imagining things. Walking to the corner of the room, he took out his pillow, sat down, and took out his phone to set an alarm. He looked at the sculptures. Under the moonlight, they looked as if they had come to life as real flesh. Stretching, he waved at the statues. "Goodnight." "Found the prince?" A deep and cold voice questioned. "We've searched the entire house, but not a single shadow." "He's not in this house. We're not sure when he left, and it's possible he was gone from the start." "…Could it be him that did it?" A voice full of contempt asked. "Not possible." A light voice full of dark humor laughed, "This guy is definitely an idiot, hehehe." "He's drooling…" A gentle female voice timidly said, "He's not wearing anything either…" "After being sealed off for twelve years, why is it that the first person we meet is this kind of trash?" "At least he took off the seal, so we kind of owe him…" "Is he a Summoner? If he is I'm not willing to make a contract with him." The words being thrown back and forth entered the ears of Feng Ping Lan who was currently sleeping. He slowly opened his eyes, to see six tall figures standing before him, staring. "Wah!" Feng Ping Lan's sleepiness immediately vanished, sitting upright, but then realized that he was half-naked, subconsciously using his hands to cover his chest, embarra.s.sedly squealing, "Aiya!" This motion made everyone in the house, for a slight moment, feel a sense of disgust. "Don't worry, we have no interest in your infertile b.r.e.a.s.t.s." A blond man smilingly spoke up, his long elegant fingers pointing at the clothes hanging on the window. "Could you put them on?" "Oh oh okay!" Feng Ping Lan hurriedly stood up, putting the clothes on, "Sorry sorry, are you guys the owners of this house? I'm a freshman of Zephaniah Academy at the bottom of the mountain, because I mixed up the dates I had to sleep here for a night. I'm really sorry I don't have any money to pay for the lodging fee, I only have a few snacks and an electric pot, if you don't mind you can take it… But can I come back later to buy the electric pot? When autumn comes I need it to steam the crabs—" Feng Ping Lan started explaining himself without waiting for the others to talk, and the six people's faces began to look more and more unsightly. "Enough!" A rough bronze-skinned man with a tall build rebuked impatiently. "Uh, if you guys really want that electric pot, you can have it. But I hope that I can come and borrow it from time to time, of course, I'll share a few crabs with you…" "Shut up, you idiot!" A blue-haired boy interrupted Feng Ping Lan's words, "Haven't you realized what's the difference with this room?" Feng Ping Lan distractedly turned around to look at the room. Right now, other than themselves, there was nothing but an empty room. "The sculptures are gone…" Feng Ping Lan paused and suddenly understood, "I didn't steal them!" "Idiot!" The blue-haired boy shouted furiously, "I think that the person who released the seal wasn't this human, but a human-like ape!" "What seal?" Feng Ping Lan was baffled, but he was sure that they were talking about him. "When you came into this house, did you see anybody else?" A white-haired man gently said, "Other than the six sculptures in this room, did you find any other sculptures, paintings, photos, or any other images of the sort?" "I didn't find any, but I saw a photograph in the hallway of seven people—" With that said, Feng Ping Lan suddenly realized that the six people in front of him looked incredibly similar to the people in the portrait, "You guys look exactly like the people in the portrait… Oh, that's right, the sculptures too! Are they crafted after you guys? They're beautiful!" The white-haired man smiled forcefully, turning around to look at a brown-haired man with an icy expression on his face, that had not spoken from the start till the end, "The prince is not here, he could be sealed off at another place, Quetzal2." The man that had been called Quetzal closed his eyes, placing his hand on his chest, sensing the mark bound to his soul. Feng Ping Lan stared at him, recognizing him as the statue that had a half-snake form. A moment later, Quetzal opened his eyes, using a quiet voice to say lowly, "…He still exists." And then, gaze turning to Feng Ping Lan, "Take care of that unnecessary trifle first." "Uh, what?" What was the current situation? Did the unnecessary trifle mean him? "I really didn't steal those sculptures!" "Of course, we know you didn't steal them." The blond man walked over to Feng Ping Lan with a laugh, "Because those sculptures are still within this residence, in front of your eyes." "What?" "I'm already sick of this topic." The blue-haired boy complained ill-naturedly, "Let's finish this swiftly." As Feng Ping Lan puzzled over it, the six people began to transform. Just as if a cut from a scene of a movie, their bodies metamorphosed in an instant and changed exactly into the forms of the sculptures the night before, into the unnatural half-human half-demon states. "Wow!" Feng Ping Lan covered his mouth in shock, staring amazedly at the six ma.s.sive inhuman figures, "Wow wow wow! This is… this is… too… too incredible…" With this unrealistic situation in front of his eyes, it was as if his cognitive abilities had been overcome. He didn't know how to express his shock, so he unconsciously clapped his hands hard, using all his strength to the point that his palms hurt. "Don't clap your hands! This isn't a performance!" The leopard-bodied man roared. "Sorry! I don't mean to offend you, but… this is really… amazing…" Feng Ping Lan stared at the six of them, eyes s.h.i.+ning, not a trace of fear but full of novelty and surprise, as if he was a kid that was seeing a theme park for the first time, "How wonderful… It's so beautiful…" He couldn't help but want to reach out a hand to touch them, to experience these extraordinary creatures first-hand, to feel those enchanting bodies with his hands. Especially the ma.s.sive snake with dazzling spread-out wings that stood in front of him. Those black scales were like crystals, subtly glinting a prism of colors. He wanted to touch them, using his own hand to feel this realistic existence. The six stared blankly at him. They had never met with and never imagined this type of reaction should they transform into their demonic appearances. Beautiful? Had this guy been shocked foolish by them… "Don't you understand what's going on right now?" The blond man smiled shallowly, "This isn't a magic show, you know." "Mmhm! You guys aren't normal humans!" Feng Ping Lan opened his mouth, a surprised and excited l.u.s.ter s.h.i.+ning through his eyes. "To be accurate, we can't even be considered humans." "I know! I've never in my life seen this handsome of a human!" Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly, then said after realizing something, "Oh, that's right, what do you guys consume? Humans? Did you guys transform back to your original forms to… eat me?" "If I want to commit suicide or decrease my intelligence level, maybe." The blue-haired boy grunted coldly. "That's good." Feng Ping Lan let out a sigh of relief, "Then, where are you guys from? Why come here?" Everyone stared blankly at him once more. He had accepted it this simply? In the process he had not shown a single moment of denial, fear or panic. Just a bit of curiosity. "You're not scared?" This was different from what they knew of humans. "After all, you guys aren't going to eat me." After all, if they wanted to harm him, they would have done so while he was sleeping. All of them couldn't resist rolling their eyes. "Have the humans gone through any severe changes in these past twelve years, for example a nuclear disaster? Or have you been hit by a blunt object before, or breathe in a huge amount of paint fumes at home?" The blue-haired boy interrogated. "Nothing like that, I've never licked the walls of my house, and I wouldn't know if the fumes I breathed in would be a lot or not. Why would you ask that?" "I want to know if a problem had occurred to all of humanity, or if it was just you." "I see." Feng Ping Lan nodded his head. In actuality he didn't really understand the insults present in the boy's words. "So what are you guys?" In an instant, the six demonic figures returned to their human states. "Using your terms to answer, we are demons. The creatures present in myths, as well a small part of G.o.ds are included in our species, it's just that we are different races." The blond man said, "We came into this world from ours, and met an accident which turned us into stone and sealed us in this house for twelve years, until yesterday night when you released the seal." "I released the seal?" Why didn't he have any memories of doing something so amazing? "You ignored our attempts to scare you and entered the house, using your fresh blood to break the seal outside, then used again to break the boundaries in the floor. Finally, you unlocked the most crucial curse chaining us down." The blond man looked at Quetzal, "The Stone-sealing Curse's core was cast upon Quetzal, and your blood was what made the curse vanish." Feng Ping Lan was astonished, "It was that simple to break the seal?" It felt way too negligent. "Getting the conditions to unlock the seal isn't easy at all!" The blue-haired boy glared at Feng Ping Lan, "Who would run into a haunted house in the middle of the night, using blood-stained hands to push the doors open, dripping the blood all over the floor, then using said blood-stained hands to simply touch a unidentified sculpture?" "Hm…" Feng Ping Lan thought hard for a while, "A female servant got pregnant with the Fu Family's young master and in the end got injured by the people the master sent to get rid of her so she hid in this house by coincidentally gathering her courage then her water broke so she chose the biggest room to go into labor and also because the labor didn't proceed smoothly she bled a lot, like this." "Stupid! Ridiculous!" The blue-haired boy scoffed, "Then what about the part about the sculpture? By the way, if Quetzal isn't the first to be touched by the blood, the seal wouldn't be broken, so you have a ⅚ probability of it failing." "Because the labor process was too painful, so she grabbed… that person's sculpture." Feng Ping Lan looked at Quetzal, seeing that his face still had a cold expression. "Why do you think that she would choose Quetzal?" "Because he's the most handsome one." Feng Ping Lan said that as if it was obvious. The blue-haired boy was startled, he didn't expect such a shallow answer. He couldn't agree nor refute to it. "In any case, anyways, thanks for cras.h.i.+ng in in the middle of the night, hehehe." The blond man smilingly spoke. "It was nothing, just a small matter." Feng Ping Lan scratched his head embarra.s.sedly, thinking that he was praising him. "However, I still need you to do something." The blond man continued to smile while saying that. "Mmmm! Don't hesitate to say it!" "Don't tell anyone else about us, even if it's someone you think you can trust." The blond man smiled, but there wasn't anything light about his tone, "We have a few enemies in the human world, so, we don't want to be tracked down before completely healing." "Alright, I won't tell anybody." Feng Ping Lan raised his hand and zipped his lips, "But, why would you tell me this? Why didn't you take advantage of the fact that I was sleeping and secretly leave while I was sleeping?" "We wanted to know if your appearance had anything to do with our master. Also, you used your blood to release the seal on us, so our souls already have a sort of connection between them which will affect your daily life. We don't want you to have any holes in your behavior, in case our enemies use you to find us, so we're telling you first." "The seal was broken by you, we can't use a spell wipe your memories…" Quetzal added coldly. It was very obvious that he didn't want any kind of connection with Feng Ping Lan, or any other human for that matter. "Oh, I see." Feng Ping Lan secretly rejoiced. Because he didn't want to forget about what had happened here. The rays of the morning sun penetrated through the window, daybreak had arrived suddenly. Feng Ping Lan looked at his watch, seeing that it was already six and there was another hour before he could enter the dorms. "Um, so, your seal's broken, so now—" "It's none of your business anymore." Quetzal’s words had no warmth in them, "You can go now." "Oh, mm." Feng Ping Lan nodded his head obediently, "Then, I won't disturb you." The timing was just right as the way down there as well as the time used to eat breakfast would add up into an hour. Although he had broken the seal through a series of accidental factors, and he had just met the people of this hours for an hour, cutting of all contact this simply made him feel a little… disappointed. Feng Ping Lan carried his bag, lifting up his electric pot. Before he stepped out of the house, he waved to the people in it, smiling in goodbye, "See you." The white-haired man returned a smile; the blond waved, but he looked like he was chasing away a fly; the girl with the long fringe timidly nodded at him in goodbye; the rest looked as if they were sending away an infection, their faces unsightly. After Feng Ping Lan had left, the blond smiled, "I didn't think it would be this type of person the released the seal, G.o.d must really love playing with us." "I thought that the person to release us would be Prince Shuekan!" The bronze-skinned man impatiently bellowed, "That wretched Demon Slayer! I want to tear him to pieces!" "The prince is still alive, the Demon Slayer didn't break his oath." Quetzal said calmly, "We will find him…" "But our time is limited." The blue-haired boy touched his forehead, where a light blue symbol appeared, its color deepening and becoming light unstably. "If we don't strengthen our bond with the prince, or find a new contractor, we will even have problems with existing in this s.p.a.ce…" The white haired man looked at Quetzal, "What do you think?" Quetzal placed his hand on his chest, breathing in, "I will only have one master." "Our seal's just been broken, we'll save that serious talk for the night." The blond-haired man jumped up the window, gazing far across, "In these twelve years, the human world has changed. The buildings have increased, there are more humans, and also…" He closed his eyes, feeling the cold breeze blowing past, corners of his mouth drawn back, "The scent of lower-level demons' sins mixed in have also increased. If they aren't immigrants from the underworld, it means that the number of those lowly Summoners have grown." "People sent by the royal clan may also be in it, we should stay low-key before we find Prince Shuekan." "To me, there are too many things that are unknown to us, if we want to stay low-key we'll need a guide." "Find a neutral party to help us?" The blue-haired boy proposed. "No, there may also be people from the royal clan there as well, we can't inadvertently alert the enemy." "Right now there is just one human who knows about us and has had contact with us before." The blond man smiled, "Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell him that having contact with demons of our level would cause some changes to himself, this could possibly bring some problems to him. I hope this doesn't cause a death, hehehe." "You want to find that moron?" Uncouth features wrinkled, not able to agree with him. "He looks very stupid." The blue-haired boy added bluntly. "I love stupid people." The blond man smiled and said softly, "People who are more idiotic, would be much easier to control." TL Note His name is written as 封平瀾, p.r.o.nounced fēng píng lán. Quetzal’s chinese name is 奎薩爾, kuí sà ěr.
He poured everything from his bag out. And there was suddenly a mountain of snacks on the floor. There were all sorts of snacks there, sweet ones, salty ones, hot and cold. An ice box emitted a chilly white smoke; to the side was a flaky chicken pastry that wafted a garlicky and meaty fragrance. The administrator frowned, pulling the window open once more. "Going on a hike? Or are you part of a disaster relief?" "I thought today was the day the freshmen would come in, so I bought snacks to share with my roommates." Feng Ping Lan, after searching for a long while could not seem to find what he was searching for and shook his head, "That's weird… Where did it disappear to… ah!" He suddenly remembered, when he was eating mangoes on the train earlier, he had used the notice letter to wipe his hands and to dispose of the mango skin. "You lost it?" The administrator took in another mouthful of iced tea, and asked irritably. "Yeah. But I'm absolutely sure it said 24th August, I'm placed in room 384." Feng Ping Lan licked at the frozen treat that was about to melt off, bent his head to the side and thought for a bit, "Mm, maybe everyone else got the wrong date, and I'm the only one who came on the correct day, hahaha." The administrator did not smile. "It's just a day early anyway, so if you have to be super strict about it, there's only six hours left until it's 25th August. Can't you bend the rules a bit and let me in first? I won't be up to anything bad, please, I beg you!" Feng Ping Lan clasped his two palms together at his forehead, a sincere look on his face. The administrator glanced coldly at Feng Ping Lan, "The dormitory's supervisor and teachers on night duty aren't here yet, and they're the ones who have the key. You can't go in without that." He snorted impatiently, "I'm also not supposed to simply let any students in. Before there was two d.a.m.n kids who came on a weekend, who said that they came to take a few things, then what happened? Those two ended up having intercourse in their rooms, and even took videos of it to put online. The school had to interfere, and I ended up getting involved!" The administrator grunted angrily, crunching a few ice cubes in his mouth. "That's really just too tragic," Feng Ping Lan nodded emphatically, and started trying to sell his trustworthiness. "But don't worry! I'm just one person, I definitely will not be able to do that sort of thing, if you still can't trust me, I'll eat up all the jellies in my bag, attach a piece a sandpaper to my right hand, and seal off anything that can be considered a tool to do anything lewd," he solemnly vowed. The administrator put out a disgusted expression, "Whether or not you can get yourself in trouble is not the question, the point is that I don't want to cause trouble for myself, so I won't let you in." "Is that so…" Feng Ping Lan despaired a little. "Don't you have a few relatives close by?" "I don't have any." "Find a hotel to stay a night in then." "That's a good suggestion, but there's a problem." Feng Ping Lan scratched his face, and spoke distressedly, "I'm a bit short of money, and I won't be able to afford a hotel." "You came abroad to study, but didn't bring any money with you?" "I had quite a lot of money two hours ago." Feng Ping Lan laughed hollowly. This was the first time leaving his home, and independently living on his own. He had excitedly simply bought a bunch of things, including necessities that 'looked like he needed it' and things food that 'would be eaten one day', and also a second-hand bicycle that had looked appropriate to buy on a shopping trip. If he spent any more on a hotel fee, his allowance this month would already equal zero. The administrator looked at the junk food piled up in front of him, and sighed, "From which cla.s.s are you? What's your name? I'll make a call towards the school affairs director, he'll contact your homeroom teacher, who'll help you handle this matter." "Oh oh! You don't need to!" To create a bad impression on the homeroom teacher even before school reopened, this wasn't a good thing! "Oh, I suddenly remembered, I have an aunt and a great uncle that lives near here, I'll go find them." "Oh, is that so?" The administrator nodded his head, and picked out the lemon slices in his gla.s.s of lemon tea, crunching them in his mouth. "Do so then, don't stay here and complicate things." Feng Ping Lan breathed out a sigh of relief, and squatted down to put all his snacks back into his bag. The administrator looked at Feng Ping Lan's back, and lazily said, "Be careful on your way out." "Oh, thanks." "I heard that recently there's a drunkard that's been creating problems in the park nearby." "Oh, alright, I'll keep that in mind." "The mountain area's public order would be a better place. That place has a beautiful field, yet there's no one living there, what a waste of resources." The administrator spoke a few meaningless words to him. "Oh, alright, I'll keep that in mind." Putting those words into the corner of his mind, Feng Ping Lan picked up his bag and stood up. "Right, this is for you." He took out two popsicles and gave it to the administrator, and also from the plastic bag on his wrist he took out bit of chicken cutlet and a bottle of soda, putting it on the desk. "And these, I can't eat them all by myself." "Mmhm." The administrator simply grunted an acknowledgement, his sungla.s.ses not revealing his expression and thoughts. "Bye, see you tomorrow!" Feng Ping Lan waved at the administrator, and walked down the road, straddling across a weird pink ladies’ bicycle, and went off. Feng Ping Lan rode on the bicycle, loitering around the streets. It was currently eight at night, the sky transitioning from a romantic orange to a deep purple. The bicycle's basket had a bag of local chocolate beans, and he ate some while he rode on it. Luckily his luggage would only be sent over tomorrow, so he wouldn't need to worry about having to sign the delivery. He thought optimistically. "Where should I go?" His bicycle turned into a small alley, pa.s.sing through the public park. "To the park?" No, the park was not a good place to stay. There were drunkards there, and he didn't want to become the appetizer for them along with their alcohol. Continuing with his journey, he looked afar, and realized that the road connecting to the end of the alley was an up slope. He could see the mountain silently standing upright against the night sky. "The mountain area seems to be a good idea…" The administrator guy had told him that the plains were a good option. Feng Ping Lan rode uphill while eating his chocolates, then munching on his salted chicken pastries. The shops nearby began to lessen, and when he realized it, he had arrived at the border of the outskirts, at the foot of the mountain. Feng Ping Lan breathed heavily, his s.h.i.+rt stained with sweat and his ears a deep red. "It's so hot…" The nightly breeze blew past, but it could not help cool him down. The scorching air, the bicycle ride for more than two hours, plus the fried foods that he had consumed, all contributed to the body heat that acc.u.mulated on Feng Ping Lan. His ears throbbed, and his blood rushed through his veins as if they were about to explode. G.o.d, would he die right here? He slowly rode upwards with his fever-ridden body. There were no shops on either side of the road, the residences becoming lesser and lesser, and he spotted another building only about ten meters away. Ah… Will I be forced to sleep in the open now? G.o.d, at least give me a sheltered roof to hide from the rain, why don't you… Just when the thought crossed his mind, a pure white tall building caught his attention. It was a beautiful European-style building, but the front courtyard's weeds and the gloomy windows made the entire building seem dismal and sinister in the dead of the night. The second floor had a few windows that were still open, and the gla.s.s had cobwebs on them, showing its glistening silk in the moonlight. A huge uninhabited residence that had been abandoned by its owner. "Oh oh! This isn't bad at all! I choose you!" Feng Ping Lan happily jumped off his bicycle and walked up to the steel fence. The tall entrance gates had been locked shut, and he took great effort in climbing over the steel fence, jumping down and walking towards the residence. He did not notice, that this residence was located halfway up the mountain, especially further away from the other residences, as if it had been purposefully avoided, existing all by itself on its own. He also did not notice, other than the front courtyard's overgrown weeds, this 'abandoned' residence was kept in perfect condition, and there were no signs of anyone daring to trespa.s.s and vandalize the building. He further more did not notice, the residence's grey walls were plastered full of seals that were meant to ward off evil spirits, and a warning sign that said— "Danger! Danger! Do not enter!" "Ghosts! There are ghosts!" "There are evil spirits here! Leave immediately!" Feng Ping Lan crossed the weed-filled courtyard, and walked towards the main house. He pushed golden doork.n.o.b that had a huge layer of dust on it, realizing that it was locked. To be sure, he pressed the doorbell. But there wasn't a sound and n.o.body answered. "Hm, maybe there's another entrance…" He walked around the house's compound. He couldn't find another door, but located a gla.s.s window. It seemed like he would just have to find himself a way in. "Please excuse me for this!" Feng Ping Lan bowed at the window, and picked up a stone in the compound, throwing it at the gla.s.s. Bang! An ear-piercing sound cut through the silent night. In the silent s.p.a.ce of the residence, an undetected hidden presence faintly started to wake. There's someone… A lowly despicable intruder… Who is it this time? No matter what, let's entertain him nicely, hehe… Soundless whispers echoed throughout the house, only to be heard by the ones concealed by darkness. Feng Ping Lan who was currently outside stared at the window in front of him, vexed. After shattering the gla.s.s he realized that the window was too narrow, and although it could fit him, the sides had little bits of sharp gla.s.s surrounding it and he would definitely get cut by them. Feng Ping Lan scratched his head, helplessly walking around the compound once more, realizing that there wasn't any more ways in from the first floor. What should he do now? Build a makes.h.i.+ft bed on the floor? But there were many mosquitoes around, and there were wild dogs nearby… Just when Feng Ping Lan distressedly circled the house, he suddenly realized that the door that had been locked earlier was now unlocked, the snow white door facing inwards, revealing a dark crack as if it was inviting him him. Are you brave enough to come in? Human… If you're scared, leave this place im— "Oh yeah! Lucky!" Feng Ping Lan shouted loudly, pus.h.i.+ng open the door and walking in to look about. Very good. Even though he did not know why, but his luck was incredibly good! The old residence had been abandoned for years, and anything could happen, so maybe he had broken the lock when he pushed at the door, hahaha! He really hoped that the bathroom was usable, because he was craving for a cold shower. His skin was clammy, and the heat was unable to escape from his body. He felt like he was going to die from a heatwave. …He entered… …Make him go away! In the tightly-shut chamber, a big gust of wind appeared with no reason at all, sweeping through Feng Ping Lan's pathway. The strong wind brushed past, filling the room with cool air, a deadly silent wind that increased the pressure in the atmosphere. Leave, in the direction of this wind, get away from he— "Mm! Haaa…" Feng Ping Lan let out a pleasurable groan, as if he was being released from a heavy load. Because he had eaten a lot of chocolates and fatty foods which had made his body heat shoot up, the chilly wind was extremely enjoyable, and cooled him down a lot. …He's still there… …Why is he moaning… Is he sick? Very interesting, hehehe… Feng Ping Lan continued to walk through the hallway. The hallway had a few portraits on the walls as decorations which seemed to stare at Feng Ping Lan as he moved about. Feng Ping Lan walked a few steps, feeling something unsettling and stopped his movements, in front of a certain portrait. It looked to be a family portrait, its size smaller than any other portraits in the hallway. It carried a dark and old-fas.h.i.+oned feel to it, seven people sitting in it, every person having features that transcended any normal human-being's; the male that sat in the middle had a face that was faded and distorted, as if someone had used a thumb to rub away his features before the photo had dried. The seven people sat in a gorgeous room, gazing forward gloomily, eyes glazed as if their souls had left them. Feng Ping Lan stared at the picture, smiling and raising a finger to brush against each and every face. "With these many people together, they should be smiling…" He pulled back, and turned away to continue walking through dark house. He was not scared. He was used to being in the dark, and was used to being by himself. It wasn't because he was especially brave, but rather than ghosts, he had fears that were greater than them… Pa dong! dong! kaka— A sound came through the second floor, as if things were being destroyed, then the sound of wood snapping under the feet of someone. Pa dong! dong! dong— Feng Ping Lan raised his head to look above, frowning then quickly turning back to leave the room. He's gone… I’ll count him as smart… Three minutes later, the same silhouette arrived once more. The deeply secluded residents felt shocked and confused. He came back? Just why… Feng Ping Lan had come back, this time with his large bag, hugging an electric pot, on his arm hanging a big plastic bag stuffed full of junk food. As soon as he stepped in, the air was instantly filled with the strong smell of meat and garlic. "Bringing it in would be safer." Feng Ping Lan looked at the snacks in his hands with a relieved gaze. Listening the the earlier sounds reminded him of the wild dogs outside, and if he put the food outside it would probably be stolen. The house would at most probably just have rats, which by using a few peanuts would do the job. He's coming closer… The presences hidden away in the dark started to panic. Don't let him! Feng Ping Lan's shadow started to elongate, rising above the ground to stand upright. The twisted and unstable shadow raised two constantly warping hands towards Feng Ping Lan's neck. "Ah!" Feng Ping Lan gasped, and lowered his head. Just at this moment, the shadow jumped through empty s.p.a.ce. The shadow failed to attach to a living body, and as a last act transformed into a black cloud in the air, returning to the darkness. Feng Ping Lan stared at his own clothes, where a large amount of blood stained it. The scent of blood… The hidden presences were confused. Is it your doing? No… Then why… The blood continued to drip, and Feng Ping Lan raised his hand to wipe his face, realizing a hint of wetness beneath his nose. Fresh red blood leaked from his nose. The heat that had acc.u.mulated in his body entered and expanded his blood vessels, rus.h.i.+ng to his nose and breaking through the mucous membrane, seeking shelter with the open air. "Ah, this is bad this is bad!" Feng Ping Lan used his hand to cover his nose. He didn't have any tissue paper, and the only piece of paper he had had already been used to wrap the mango skin. He felt the blood leaking through, dripping onto the ground. What should he do? There should be something that could be used as paper in this huge house… He'll find the toilet first! He continued his footsteps, into the innermost part of the house. A pair of doors blocked his way, the two doors had no handle, and beautiful golden patterns marked onto them. Feng Ping Lan unconsciously pushed open the doors. The instant those blood-stained hands touched the doors, the air quaked faintly, a protective screen appearing on the rupture, instantly disintegrating. He's here— He's come in— Pus.h.i.+ng open the doors revealed a wide and high-ceiling hall, only containing six large sculptures. Feng Ping Lan walked in front of the six sculptures. Each of them were perfectly detailed. These six sculptures were sculpted using pure white stones, skillfully crafted, vividly realistic, and even though they had human features, they looked otherworldly. To the furthermost left was a long-haired female, most of the face covered by her hair, only revealing one eye and a bit of the side of her head. She wore a low-cut armor, a pair of feathered wings spread out at the back; she held a huge halberd in her hands, the end of its edge bifurcating into two forks. Not far away stood a boy, two horns growing out of his forehead, wearing a chinese cheongsam and holding the type of long sword that frequently appeared in wuxia shows. Gaze moving to the back, he saw a tall and st.u.r.dy man in a leaping pose, as if it was a stop motion from a piece of film. Claws extended from both of his hands, his legs transformed into a feline-like beastly foot, his entire being emitting a feral odor. Next was a man that had a demonic smile, an insect-like pair of wings growing out of his back and holding a long whip that had a sharp needle at the end of it. As he went right, a man stood humbly, hands placed at the front, as if he was an attendant silently waiting for his master's orders. His hands were marked with a complicated totem tattoo, the tip of the totem coming off his skin, its intense drawing etched on the weapon in his hands. Feng Ping Lan looked through the sculptures one by one, gaze fixing onto the middle. The sculpture in the middle stood to the innermost, it was the tallest and the most inhuman. It was of an attractive man that was shouting, both hands each holding a long sword, his upper half bare and two plumed wings growing out of his back; yet his lower half had the appearance of a snake. Stately, heroic. Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but swallow his saliva, strangely trembling in his heart. The six sculptures were like G.o.dly beings, unnatural, transcending reality that had stopped moving in this void s.p.a.ce. The house was dark, and Feng Ping Lan couldn't see their features very clearly, but he could tell that every sculpture had extraordinary appearances. The six of them had features similar to the people in the portrait earlier. "Wow!" Feng Ping Lan couldn't help but sigh in admiration, "They're so beautiful…" He looked at the six tall silhouettes, looking at each character's features, as well as their inhuman characteristics. The hand holding his nose unconsciously relaxed, and blood travelled down his fingers, palm then onto the floor. Following Feng Ping Lan's footsteps were traces of messy red marks. The magic circle branded on the floor was cut apart by every trace of blood, disturbed; The boundaries of the seal was ravaged into a broken network, about to break at any time. Feng Ping Lan came to the center of the room, footsteps stopped in front of the half-man half-snake sculpture. He lifted his head, solemn face. The grieved and resentful expression made his attractive features seem twisted and malevolent; the stone eyes were not distant, but it was hard to distinguish the strong emotions in it. And below his eyes was a moist pearl, it was a teardrop. The entire sculpture wafted a formidable presence, making him feel fearful, but also making him feel… reluctant to part with it. He instantaneously forgot that this was a sculpture, raising a hand to touch its face, his fingers brus.h.i.+ng across the tear, wanting to wipe it away. The fresh blood on his palm dripped onto the sculpture. Cha! The damaged boundary at this moment was destroyed, a ear-piercing grinding sound travelling through the air. Feng Ping Lan was startled by the sound, trembled for a moment and put his hand down. What was that sound? A thief? Ah, what if the thief misunderstood that he was also a thief?! Feng Ping Lan waited restlessly waited at his spot for a while, but there were no movements. The whole room became silent once more. He shrugged his shoulders, putting his belongings onto the floor, going around the room to find a bathroom. Although there was dust on the floor, it was still clean. He opened to realize that there was luckily still tap water. After casually was.h.i.+ng his body, he donned a pair of boxer shorts on his bare skin, returning to the room. "Huhuhu…" Cool and refreshed, he wiped his hair while looking at the sculptures. In that moment he realized, it was as if the sculptures were looking back at him. He felt as if there was something different about them, as if… they had become more realistic? As he stared at them, he yawned. He must have been too tired and started imagining things. Walking to the corner of the room, he took out his pillow, sat down, and took out his phone to set an alarm. He looked at the sculptures. Under the moonlight, they looked as if they had come to life as real flesh. Stretching, he waved at the statues. "Goodnight." "Found the prince?" A deep and cold voice questioned. "We've searched the entire house, but not a single shadow." "He's not in this house. We're not sure when he left, and it's possible he was gone from the start." "…Could it be him that did it?" A voice full of contempt asked. "Not possible." A light voice full of dark humor laughed, "This guy is definitely an idiot, hehehe." "He's drooling…" A gentle female voice timidly said, "He's not wearing anything either…" "After being sealed off for twelve years, why is it that the first person we meet is this kind of trash?" "At least he took off the seal, so we kind of owe him…" "Is he a Summoner? If he is I'm not willing to make a contract with him." The words being thrown back and forth entered the ears of Feng Ping Lan who was currently sleeping. He slowly opened his eyes, to see six tall figures standing before him, staring. "Wah!" Feng Ping Lan's sleepiness immediately vanished, sitting upright, but then realized that he was half-naked, subconsciously using his hands to cover his chest, embarra.s.sedly squealing, "Aiya!" This motion made everyone in the house, for a slight moment, feel a sense of disgust. "Don't worry, we have no interest in your infertile b.r.e.a.s.t.s." A blond man smilingly spoke up, his long elegant fingers pointing at the clothes hanging on the window. "Could you put them on?" "Oh oh okay!" Feng Ping Lan hurriedly stood up, putting the clothes on, "Sorry sorry, are you guys the owners of this house? I'm a freshman of Zephaniah Academy at the bottom of the mountain, because I mixed up the dates I had to sleep here for a night. I'm really sorry I don't have any money to pay for the lodging fee, I only have a few snacks and an electric pot, if you don't mind you can take it… But can I come back later to buy the electric pot? When autumn comes I need it to steam the crabs—" Feng Ping Lan started explaining himself without waiting for the others to talk, and the six people's faces began to look more and more unsightly. "Enough!" A rough bronze-skinned man with a tall build rebuked impatiently. "Uh, if you guys really want that electric pot, you can have it. But I hope that I can come and borrow it from time to time, of course, I'll share a few crabs with you…" "Shut up, you idiot!" A blue-haired boy interrupted Feng Ping Lan's words, "Haven't you realized what's the difference with this room?" Feng Ping Lan distractedly turned around to look at the room. Right now, other than themselves, there was nothing but an empty room. "The sculptures are gone…" Feng Ping Lan paused and suddenly understood, "I didn't steal them!" "Idiot!" The blue-haired boy shouted furiously, "I think that the person who released the seal wasn't this human, but a human-like ape!" "What seal?" Feng Ping Lan was baffled, but he was sure that they were talking about him. "When you came into this house, did you see anybody else?" A white-haired man gently said, "Other than the six sculptures in this room, did you find any other sculptures, paintings, photos, or any other images of the sort?" "I didn't find any, but I saw a photograph in the hallway of seven people—" With that said, Feng Ping Lan suddenly realized that the six people in front of him looked incredibly similar to the people in the portrait, "You guys look exactly like the people in the portrait… Oh, that's right, the sculptures too! Are they crafted after you guys? They're beautiful!" The white-haired man smiled forcefully, turning around to look at a brown-haired man with an icy expression on his face, that had not spoken from the start till the end, "The prince is not here, he could be sealed off at another place, Quetzal2." The man that had been called Quetzal closed his eyes, placing his hand on his chest, sensing the mark bound to his soul. Feng Ping Lan stared at him, recognizing him as the statue that had a half-snake form. A moment later, Quetzal opened his eyes, using a quiet voice to say lowly, "…He still exists." And then, gaze turning to Feng Ping Lan, "Take care of that unnecessary trifle first." "Uh, what?" What was the current situation? Did the unnecessary trifle mean him? "I really didn't steal those sculptures!" "Of course, we know you didn't steal them." The blond man walked over to Feng Ping Lan with a laugh, "Because those sculptures are still within this residence, in front of your eyes." "What?" "I'm already sick of this topic." The blue-haired boy complained ill-naturedly, "Let's finish this swiftly." As Feng Ping Lan puzzled over it, the six people began to transform. Just as if a cut from a scene of a movie, their bodies metamorphosed in an instant and changed exactly into the forms of the sculptures the night before, into the unnatural half-human half-demon states. "Wow!" Feng Ping Lan covered his mouth in shock, staring amazedly at the six ma.s.sive inhuman figures, "Wow wow wow! This is… this is… too… too incredible…" With this unrealistic situation in front of his eyes, it was as if his cognitive abilities had been overcome. He didn't know how to express his shock, so he unconsciously clapped his hands hard, using all his strength to the point that his palms hurt. "Don't clap your hands! This isn't a performance!" The leopard-bodied man roared. "Sorry! I don't mean to offend you, but… this is really… amazing…" Feng Ping Lan stared at the six of them, eyes s.h.i.+ning, not a trace of fear but full of novelty and surprise, as if he was a kid that was seeing a theme park for the first time, "How wonderful… It's so beautiful…" He couldn't help but want to reach out a hand to touch them, to experience these extraordinary creatures first-hand, to feel those enchanting bodies with his hands. Especially the ma.s.sive snake with dazzling spread-out wings that stood in front of him. Those black scales were like crystals, subtly glinting a prism of colors. He wanted to touch them, using his own hand to feel this realistic existence. The six stared blankly at him. They had never met with and never imagined this type of reaction should they transform into their demonic appearances. Beautiful? Had this guy been shocked foolish by them… "Don't you understand what's going on right now?" The blond man smiled shallowly, "This isn't a magic show, you know." "Mmhm! You guys aren't normal humans!" Feng Ping Lan opened his mouth, a surprised and excited l.u.s.ter s.h.i.+ning through his eyes. "To be accurate, we can't even be considered humans." "I know! I've never in my life seen this handsome of a human!" Feng Ping Lan laughed foolishly, then said after realizing something, "Oh, that's right, what do you guys consume? Humans? Did you guys transform back to your original forms to… eat me?" "If I want to commit suicide or decrease my intelligence level, maybe." The blue-haired boy grunted coldly. "That's good." Feng Ping Lan let out a sigh of relief, "Then, where are you guys from? Why come here?" Everyone stared blankly at him once more. He had accepted it this simply? In the process he had not shown a single moment of denial, fear or panic. Just a bit of curiosity. "You're not scared?" This was different from what they knew of humans. "After all, you guys aren't going to eat me." After all, if they wanted to harm him, they would have done so while he was sleeping. All of them couldn't resist rolling their eyes. "Have the humans gone through any severe changes in these past twelve years, for example a nuclear disaster? Or have you been hit by a blunt object before, or breathe in a huge amount of paint fumes at home?" The blue-haired boy interrogated. "Nothing like that, I've never licked the walls of my house, and I wouldn't know if the fumes I breathed in would be a lot or not. Why would you ask that?" "I want to know if a problem had occurred to all of humanity, or if it was just you." "I see." Feng Ping Lan nodded his head. In actuality he didn't really understand the insults present in the boy's words. "So what are you guys?" In an instant, the six demonic figures returned to their human states. "Using your terms to answer, we are demons. The creatures present in myths, as well a small part of G.o.ds are included in our species, it's just that we are different races." The blond man said, "We came into this world from ours, and met an accident which turned us into stone and sealed us in this house for twelve years, until yesterday night when you released the seal." "I released the seal?" Why didn't he have any memories of doing something so amazing? "You ignored our attempts to scare you and entered the house, using your fresh blood to break the seal outside, then used again to break the boundaries in the floor. Finally, you unlocked the most crucial curse chaining us down." The blond man looked at Quetzal, "The Stone-sealing Curse's core was cast upon Quetzal, and your blood was what made the curse vanish." Feng Ping Lan was astonished, "It was that simple to break the seal?" It felt way too negligent. "Getting the conditions to unlock the seal isn't easy at all!" The blue-haired boy glared at Feng Ping Lan, "Who would run into a haunted house in the middle of the night, using blood-stained hands to push the doors open, dripping the blood all over the floor, then using said blood-stained hands to simply touch a unidentified sculpture?" "Hm…" Feng Ping Lan thought hard for a while, "A female servant got pregnant with the Fu Family's young master and in the end got injured by the people the master sent to get rid of her so she hid in this house by coincidentally gathering her courage then her water broke so she chose the biggest room to go into labor and also because the labor didn't proceed smoothly she bled a lot, like this." "Stupid! Ridiculous!" The blue-haired boy scoffed, "Then what about the part about the sculpture? By the way, if Quetzal isn't the first to be touched by the blood, the seal wouldn't be broken, so you have a ⅚ probability of it failing." "Because the labor process was too painful, so she grabbed… that person's sculpture." Feng Ping Lan looked at Quetzal, seeing that his face still had a cold expression. "Why do you think that she would choose Quetzal?" "Because he's the most handsome one." Feng Ping Lan said that as if it was obvious. The blue-haired boy was startled, he didn't expect such a shallow answer. He couldn't agree nor refute to it. "In any case, anyways, thanks for cras.h.i.+ng in in the middle of the night, hehehe." The blond man smilingly spoke. "It was nothing, just a small matter." Feng Ping Lan scratched his head embarra.s.sedly, thinking that he was praising him. "However, I still need you to do something." The blond man continued to smile while saying that. "Mmmm! Don't hesitate to say it!" "Don't tell anyone else about us, even if it's someone you think you can trust." The blond man smiled, but there wasn't anything light about his tone, "We have a few enemies in the human world, so, we don't want to be tracked down before completely healing." "Alright, I won't tell anybody." Feng Ping Lan raised his hand and zipped his lips, "But, why would you tell me this? Why didn't you take advantage of the fact that I was sleeping and secretly leave while I was sleeping?" "We wanted to know if your appearance had anything to do with our master. Also, you used your blood to release the seal on us, so our souls already have a sort of connection between them which will affect your daily life. We don't want you to have any holes in your behavior, in case our enemies use you to find us, so we're telling you first." "The seal was broken by you, we can't use a spell wipe your memories…" Quetzal added coldly. It was very obvious that he didn't want any kind of connection with Feng Ping Lan, or any other human for that matter. "Oh, I see." Feng Ping Lan secretly rejoiced. Because he didn't want to forget about what had happened here. The rays of the morning sun penetrated through the window, daybreak had arrived suddenly. Feng Ping Lan looked at his watch, seeing that it was already six and there was another hour before he could enter the dorms. "Um, so, your seal's broken, so now—" "It's none of your business anymore." Quetzal’s words had no warmth in them, "You can go now." "Oh, mm." Feng Ping Lan nodded his head obediently, "Then, I won't disturb you." The timing was just right as the way down there as well as the time used to eat breakfast would add up into an hour. Although he had broken the seal through a series of accidental factors, and he had just met the people of this hours for an hour, cutting of all contact this simply made him feel a little… disappointed. Feng Ping Lan carried his bag, lifting up his electric pot. Before he stepped out of the house, he waved to the people in it, smiling in goodbye, "See you." The white-haired man returned a smile; the blond waved, but he looked like he was chasing away a fly; the girl with the long fringe timidly nodded at him in goodbye; the rest looked as if they were sending away an infection, their faces unsightly. After Feng Ping Lan had left, the blond smiled, "I didn't think it would be this type of person the released the seal, G.o.d must really love playing with us." "I thought that the person to release us would be Prince Shuekan!" The bronze-skinned man impatiently bellowed, "That wretched Demon Slayer! I want to tear him to pieces!" "The prince is still alive, the Demon Slayer didn't break his oath." Quetzal said calmly, "We will find him…" "But our time is limited." The blue-haired boy touched his forehead, where a light blue symbol appeared, its color deepening and becoming light unstably. "If we don't strengthen our bond with the prince, or find a new contractor, we will even have problems with existing in this s.p.a.ce…" The white haired man looked at Quetzal, "What do you think?" Quetzal placed his hand on his chest, breathing in, "I will only have one master." "Our seal's just been broken, we'll save that serious talk for the night." The blond-haired man jumped up the window, gazing far across, "In these twelve years, the human world has changed. The buildings have increased, there are more humans, and also…" He closed his eyes, feeling the cold breeze blowing past, corners of his mouth drawn back, "The scent of lower-level demons' sins mixed in have also increased. If they aren't immigrants from the underworld, it means that the number of those lowly Summoners have grown." "People sent by the royal clan may also be in it, we should stay low-key before we find Prince Shuekan." "To me, there are too many things that are unknown to us, if we want to stay low-key we'll need a guide." "Find a neutral party to help us?" The blue-haired boy proposed. "No, there may also be people from the royal clan there as well, we can't inadvertently alert the enemy." "Right now there is just one human who knows about us and has had contact with us before." The blond man smiled, "Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell him that having contact with demons of our level would cause some changes to himself, this could possibly bring some problems to him. I hope this doesn't cause a death, hehehe." "You want to find that moron?" Uncouth features wrinkled, not able to agree with him. "He looks very stupid." The blue-haired boy added bluntly. "I love stupid people." The blond man smiled and said softly, "People who are more idiotic, would be much easier to control." TL Note His name is written as 封平瀾, p.r.o.nounced fēng píng lán. Quetzal’s chinese name is 奎薩爾, kuí sà ěr.
