Chapter 323: Forget About Everything Else, the Tail Is All That Matters
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Genetic disorder?" Hao Ren furrowed his eye brows. "That means demon hunters will be extinct someday?"
"No. Not to that extent yet, but they are surely weakening and their numbers will dwindle in the future. It will get worse from one generation to the next." The MDT paused, then continued, "We have insufficient blood and tissue samples to make a more comprehensive analysis of the race and draw up an evolutionary map for them. We also have no way to confirm whether the disease affects their entire race. Like I said, it's just a guess."
Hao Ren had heard many people talking about the demon hunters' decline. In fact, he had also considered the possibility of genetic deterioration before, but there was no way to verify it previously. No one really knew whether the genes of demon hunters worked the same way as other regular races. But now, it seemed like this conjecture was confirmed. Hesperides' face lit up on news of demon hunters declining. "Haha, that's good news. I'm going to tell everyone back home."
"Just don't be too optimistic." The MDT poured cold water on her enthusiasm. "All the analysis shows is just the early symptom. It'll take thousands of years before the genetic deterioration rears its full ugly head. And considering the lifespan of demon hunters, my best guess is your present predicament won't go away for another few thousand years. And who knows, by then, your race may become extinct before they do."
The MDT was not exactly polite in saying that and Hesperides was visibly annoyed. Hao Ren quickly intervened to smooth things over. "Ehem, ehem, please don't take it to heart. The MDT didn't mean it. Its brain just works differently."
Hesperides remained silent. She knew it was not wise to get in over her head with a piece of machine, so she quickly calmed herself down. But something had come to mind, which cause Hao Ren to frown: a more in depth investigation may be required to probe the cause of the demon hunters'weakening. He would probably even need Raven 12345's help.
He knew that he should not get in over his head with this news as well; he was an inspector and he could not be emotional. If it was a natural phenomenon, then he should let it be. But if it had something to do with the imbalance in The Plane Of Dreams, then...
"What are you thinking about?" Hao Ren's silence made Vivian curious. He was jolted out of his thoughts. "Nothing, nothing," he said.
The three of them stayed in the science lab until afternoon, working hard to verify the analyses and studying the demon hunters' various weaponry: the magical crossbows and daggers with demon-expelling power. Vivian and Hesperides had been of great help as both of them were veterans in terms of battling the demon hunters. Despite her screwed-up memory, Vivian still remembered a great deal about the demon hunters and their secrets. They compared the weapons on the test bench and explained their powers, features and usage to Hao Ren. He had truly learned a lot from them. Although he was not keen to battle those mad men, the knowledge would come in handy when the situation called for it.
Once they were done in the science lab, they went home the same way they came. Hao Ren did not feel dizzy at all this time. He was happy that his decision to build a gateway in the basement was right—the gateway was far more comfortable to use than the MDT. Meanwhile, Hesperides was lamenting and talking about grandmother stories from the Mythological Era: in fact, teleportation used to be as common as simile for the major otherworldling families. She used to regularly traverse Mount Olympus and Athens by way of teleportation. But, as the Mythological Era came to an end, most ancient facilities and equipment were destroyed by the demon hunters as well as angry humans. She had not seen a home-based teleportation device since then.
And, she did not realise that she had been teleported to the Kuiper Station—the space station 40 astronomical units away from Earth. No one knew how she was going to react if she found that out.
Hao Ren turned and looked back at the little gateway, which he had built together with Lily. He could not deny its look. "It really looks like a loo..."
Vivian covered her mouth, giggling. "Let's take it down during the next two days, or else I'll have to cover it up when I sleep."
When they arrived home, Nangong Wuyue and Becky were already there. Lily was lying like a starfish on the couch, but Y'zaks was nowhere to be seen—the demon was probably still going for job interviews and scaring the hell out of all those pretty receptionists. Hence, he would not be home any time soon. The first thing Hao Ren did was threw Lil Pea in a basin. Rollie came up to him and he instructed his cat to look after the fish as if it understood what he was saying. When he was back in the living room, he felt that something was off.
He only noticed what was wrong after a while: Lily was used to like having a constant dose of amphetamine in her blood. She would always yap and jump up like a puppy when she saw people coming home. But today, Lily was out of character. She did not move a muscle even when Hao Ren kept shuffling in front of her. She just let herself sink into the couch like a starfish as she stared blankly at the tea table.
Hao Ren came up to her and patted her on the shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Uncharacteristically, Lily let out a sigh. "Life is torment."
Even Vivian was stunned. So stunned that she almost stumbled on her feet. "Doggie, what have you eaten on the street?"
Becky had been burying her head into the MP5, watching movies. She looked up and said quietly, "She's been losing steam ever since she came back. Wuyue and I didn't dare bother her."
Hao Ren was worried. But before he asked, Lily said softly, "I saw a golden retriever when I was on house call this morning. That poor guy's been hanging around rubbish bins, so he has a skin problem now. He lost a huge piece of fur on his back."
Hao Ren looked at Lily, whose face was soaked in sadness. He was baffled. "So? What does it have to do with you?"
Lily let out a long sigh before yanking out her tail and carrassing it with a sad face. "Misery loves company... My tail isn't recovering at all! The burnt fur is still there!"
Hao Ren almost choked upon hearing that. Gosh, she was worried for the tail. Nonetheless, he still tried to comfort her. Besides, he was also wondering about it. Two days had passed since Lily's tail was set on fire by the energy storm; her unique body should have healed the wound in half a day. Yet, it did not. Almost a third of her tail was still covered in brownish burnt fur.
"I've tried to accelerate the regeneration process, but it didn't work." Lily cuddled her own tail, sobbing. "I've gone through two sheddings since then, but the tail hasn't. Could it be that the follicles have been damaged?"
Hao Ren started to become curious and interested. He bet no one in this world had ever studied huskys in this way. God knows what had happened to the maiden. He sat beside Lily, grabbed her tail and said, "Let's see."
Lily flinched, but then she thought, "Hmm, why not?" So, she let him hold her fluffy tail; he had grabbed Lily's ear a few times before, but it was his first time getting so physically up close up to her. The tail was snow white, soft and smooth—it felt like satin. However, the burnt fur felt coarse. He plucked a few pieces of the burnt fur and Lily screamed. "Stop it! New fur isn't growing there. If you keep plucking, won't I be bald soon?"
Vivian came up to them, full of curiosity. "I think the follicles are fine. See, the fur broke off in the middle. It's probably just some minor skin damage. Do you want to try a hair restorer?"
Lily was dumbfounded. She asked, "Does it even work?"
"If you don't try it you'll never know!" Hao Ren was impressed by Vivian's creativity. He said, "Don't ever look down on a human's creativity. Didn't the shadelings learn the hard way when they were blown to the high heavens by guided missiles and RPGs invented by humans? By the way, do we even have hair restorer here?"
Of course, there was no hair restorer at home. Shops around there did not sell that stuff either. But, Vivian had an idea. Her thousand-year experience living on earth had taught her some life skills—she had a long list of folk remedies up her sleeve. She scurried into the kitchen as she said, "Wait a minute! I'll make some cream..."
Ten minutes later, Vivian came out from the kitchen with a steaming bowl in her hand. A waft of ginger mixed with other unknown ingredients began to assualt everyone's senses. Lily had smelled it from afar. She immediately hid behind Hao Ren and said, "Battie, is this revenge?"
"It's a folk remedy!" Vivian held the bowl filled with a mushy substance and came up to her. "It's a mash of ginger and herbs cooked in my own blood. Don't be such an a**hole."
Touched by Vivian's bloody sincerity, Lily stuck her neck out and said, "But, it still smells like sh*t, doesn't it?
Vivian winked at Hao Ren, but Lily spotted it. She fled and screamed. However, Vivian had gotten a hold of her and she motioned Hao Ren for help. "Landlord, hold her tail! I'm going to medicate her."