Chapter 1 Vivian's Thoughts

Vivian also knew about the Dream Plane, and when Hao Ren returned from meeting with Raven 12345, he had told her about the origin of the shapeshifters. So, after hearing the information about the "Day of Return," she, like Hao Ren, thought of the Dream Plane.

Although there was no clear evidence that the Dream Plane was behind the "Day of Return," it was, as the homeland of all shapeshifters on Earth, undoubtedly the most likely place to have an impact on shapeshifters worldwide. If the powers that the shapeshifters had lost centuries ago were indeed gradually returning, then the possibility of the Dream Plane undergoing some kind of change was extremely high.

If all of this wasn't enough to make Hao Ren and Vivian think so much, then the "Siren Prophecy" brought by Bluefly was definitely even more compelling evidence: for those in the know, no place was more suited to the title of "ancient glorious kingdom" than that world filled with bizarre races and supernatural powers.

"Actually, I wanted to ask," Hao Ren said, looking at Vivian with a curious expression, "Theoretically, you should be one of the oldest shapeshifters on Earth. Do you really have no memory of the Dream Plane? Coming from there or something…"

"No impression at all," Vivian said with a wry smile, equally helpless about her chaotic early memories. "The earliest thing I can remember is a long and confusing dream, which every vampire experiences after a long period of slumber. I seemed to have slept for a very long time, and then I woke up in a cave in the mountains, wearing strange and old clothes. Outside the cave were primitive people performing strange rituals. They seemed to regard me as a guardian deity… That's my earliest memory. Obviously, I had been active on Earth for a long time before that and had contact with other shapeshifters because the clothes I was wearing were far beyond human civilization. At that time, the primitive people on Earth were still wearing leaves and animal skins, while my clothes seemed to be made by a half-goat artisan."

Finally, Vivian sighed, "Don't count on my memory. It's even less reliable than Lily's brain."

Nangong Sanba was chatting with Nangong Wuyue, the siblings seemingly hadn't seen each other for half a year. Although the siren girl was very violent towards her brother, their relationship wasn't actually bad. At this time, Nangong Wuyue was telling Nangong Sanba to be careful when going out and to act according to his abilities. Lily, still energetically gnawing on a frozen meat bone, pushed a plate of vegetables towards Nangong Sanba while listening to the siblings' conversation: "Eat, eat…"

"I'll go warm up the food," Vivian said, turning to the dining table. "Honestly, I'm not full yet."

The meal was truly magnificent and thrilling. By the time everything was settled, it was already past one in the afternoon. After lunch, everyone was still sitting around the table. Hao Ren was warming the little merman's cold, stiff tail with his hand, while Nangong Sanba took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket: "Actually, I mainly came today to give you these. You should find them useful."

Hao Ren took them and saw that they were personnel files and photos.

"This is…"

Nangong Sanba smiled: "The resident demon hunters in the North China region, including the area each of them is responsible for and their periodic patrol patterns every year, as well as several places where they often gather. For some of the guys I've had more contact with, I've also left behind their fighting styles and personal preferences. It'll be very useful to you. But this information isn't complete. It doesn't include their activities as humans, and these things are limited to senior-level demon hunters. Those lower-level combat personnel are too scattered to collect."

"Whoa!" Hao Ren quickly put these things away. "This stuff is too useful!"

"You're betraying your 'teammates' without any psychological pressure at all," Vivian said, looking at Nangong Sanba in surprise. "Aren't you also a demon hunter to some extent?"

"But if they knew my situation, they definitely wouldn't consider me a teammate," Nangong Sanba said with a smile. "I know the extremist spirit of the demon hunters. Compared to those shapeshifters who are cruel but still have some feelings, the demon hunters feel more dangerous to me. I have to protect my sister. My habit over the years has been to collect information on the local demon hunters wherever I go and give it to her—and giving it to you is the same. Their lives have nothing to do with me. As long as Wuyue is okay."

Hao Ren thought that this guy was a hardcore sister-con, but it was his personal business, and it was better for outsiders not to interfere. He nodded and suddenly thought of a question: "Speaking of which, do you know if the demon hunters have had any big moves recently?"

"Big moves? In what aspect?"

"Targeting the shapeshifters' counterattack or something… It seems that the shapeshifter clans are preparing a major operation. Is there no activity on the demon hunter side?" Hao Ren wanted to get some information from Nangong Sanba.

"If you say so… there seem to be some developments," Nangong Sanba said with a serious expression. "I heard that demon hunters in some areas are gathering senior members to form teams to clean up those very old ruins, mostly places where shapeshifters had been entrenched hundreds of years ago. There should be nothing left in those ruins, but they're still organizing a lot of people to go. Also, a group of demon hunters went to the Arctic a few months ago."

"Cleaning up the ruins is easy to understand. The shapeshifters are now recovering the sacred objects that were left behind back then. The demon hunters probably want to find those sacred objects and destroy them before they do, but what's the meaning of going to the Arctic?" Vivian frowned. "Only frost giants used to be active in the Arctic, but they all disappeared for unknown reasons, and the frost giants didn't even establish any civilization. They're a group of low-intelligence creatures… Theoretically, they wouldn't leave any ruins."

"Then I don't know," Nangong Sanba said, spreading his hands. "I'm just a peripheral rookie, and to prevent being seen through, I don't dare to say too much when I meet other demon hunters. This information was all leaked by them during idle talk. It's not highly confidential."

"Okay, that's enough," Vivian said with a satisfied smile. She nodded to Nangong Sanba. "Looks like you're still pretty useful. Today's lunch wasn't a waste."

Nangong Sanba chuckled twice and got up to tidy his clothes: "Since the stuff has been delivered, I won't disturb you anymore. Russia is suddenly urging me urgently, and I have to leave this afternoon. Wuyue, take care of yourself usually, get along well with your friends. Our family has a long his—"

Nangong Wuyue pushed her brother out the door with all her might: "Alright, alright, go on your way!"

The living room finally quieted down. Hao Ren began to warm the little merman while thinking about things. Just then, he suddenly felt a slight tremor under his hand: Dou Dou had finally finished thawing. The little guy opened his eyes drowsily, wagged his tail, tapped the table lightly twice, and began to call out to his guardian.

Seeing this, Hao Ren immediately put all other matters aside and nervously went over to hold up the little merman, checking on his daughter's condition. The little guy tilted his head and thought for a while, finally remembering what he was doing before he hibernated, so he gathered his strength and opened his mouth, continuing to cry loudly—this child's crying even has two parts!

But the little guy's cry relieved Hao Ren: It seemed that Dou Dou had just suddenly hibernated, and his body was completely fine. This was truly an unprecedentedly healthy little thing.

"There's something I can't figure out," Vivian said to Nangong Wuyue while Hao Ren was frantically trying to comfort Dou Dou, "Sirens are a race that doesn't compete with the world, right? They shouldn't have any interest in the wars on land."

"Um, probably…" Nangong Wuyue nodded. "Anyway, that's how I am, but I haven't seen other sirens. I've only heard in legends that sirens don't compete with the world."

"Then what does it mean for them to bring the news of the Day of Return from the deep sea?" Vivian's eyes narrowed. "This will bring a great chaos. If sirens really don't compete with the world… would they care if the 'Mythological Era' on land can be revived?"

After Vivian's reminder, Nangong Wuyue realized that this was a bit strange. She tried to guess the thoughts of those siren seniors: "Could it be that something happened in the deep sea that is related to the Day of Return on land?"

"If only we could go to the deep sea…" Vivian said with a sigh.

"Before that, I want to go to the Dream Plane," Hao Ren interjected. "Let's all go together. I want to confirm some things."

(Well, continue to ask for monthly tickets! It's the beginning of the month, everyone check if you have monthly tickets, it's a waste not to vote!)