There was a place that did not exist on maps; it was hidden from all civilizations, like a hermit sitting between the border of Finland and Russia near the Arctic Circle. Humans had been expanding their territory, but there were just some places on the planet that humans could not reach, like the city of the sirens in the deep sea, or the cursed land, which connected to Inferno.
The supernatural forces in these places were keeping the prying eyes away; there was no way humans could get in through the usual mean. But compared to the heavily guarded city of siren, Nasaton, the entrance to Inferno was less challenging. Hessiana had found the secret location of the crack between Finland and Russia. She was now arriving with the group to the location.
The team boarded the private plane of Hessiana family, and flew from Helsinki to a secret airport at the upstream of the Kemi River. They disguised as Solanke senior officers conducting an internal visit to evade the eyes of the demon-hunters. Then they drove north along Kemi River until they reached the entrance to the mysterious realm. This entrance was located not very far from the secret airport of Hessiana family; it was half a day away by car. When they landed, it was only noon. Vivian decided not to stop but continued their journey.
The Arctic wind were unforgiving. They dressed themselves in long, thick windbreaker to protect themselves from the wind and to look less conspicuous. Standing on the tarmac, they all looked like spies that were planning to blow up the airport. Hessiana talked to one of her human servants; she needed to sort things out with her stuff as she rare came here.
The human who talked with Hessiana was a fat, old, bald man with a strikingly red nose and a neck that seemed too short for the collar. Wearing a fine designer suit with a matching pair of shiny shoes, the old man looked as if he had just come back from a high-end ballroom function. This man was Boris, chairperson of Solanke. Legally, he was the nominal owner of Solanke but few people knew that the man was working on the behest of the vampires for as long as a century and a half. He was merely looking after the backyard of a vampire family from the Athens sanctuary.
Boris reverently reported to Hessiana. He had been waiting for three days in this cold, remote airport when he learned his master was coming. The power of the blood spell had created an irresistible sense of loyalty in him. Lily looked on. She then asked Vivian, exhaling cloud out of her mouth and nose, "Do you really not want to live with Hessiana? Even if you don't, you can just spend her money. It's hard to imagine how rich this little Battie is now."
Hearing the conversation, Boris turned to look at the strangers. He did not know who these people were, but he knew that whoever was close to his master must be somebody. So he imprinted the faces of the strangers in his mind, thinking that perhaps someday he might need this personal connection.
Vivian looked away awkwardly. "I just couldn't stand the atmosphere in the sanctuary. And, I don't like the lifestyle of Hessiana. She is a grown-up now; I'm not going to interfere in her life. What's more, we don't click."
"Of course, the main reason is that you don't want to jinx her, right?" Nangong Sanba pulled his clothes closer to his body and slid a suspicious glance at Hessiana. "To tell the truth, you really think you could jinx her? She has a solid background."
"Solid background? Wasn't Troy solid enough? Wasn't Cleopatra powerful enough? Wasn't the Roman Empire mighty enough?" Vivian sneered at his optimism. "They all couldn't last ten years after I joined them…"
On one ear, Hessiana was listening to her subordinate while on the other ear, she was tuning in to the conversation between Vivian and the others. At this time, she could not stand it anymore. She interrupted Boris and pointed to Vivian. "Boris, please take care of this madam, she is the ancestor of Hessiana family. Everything in the Hessiana family belongs to her."
She shot Vivian a provocative look, as if she was proud of her decisiveness. But Vivian ignored her. Boris appeared stunned. He quickly came up, bowed, and greeted the master of his master. Vivian was startled. "Get up! What are you doing? Hessiana, stop it. I said I don't need for your—"
Before she could finish, Boris' cell suddenly rang. He quickly excused himself, went to aside, and answered the phone in Russian. Seconds later, he hung up and came back up to Hessiana, his face tense. "Master! We have a problem. Something happened to the two factories in North America..."
Hao Ren's jaw dropped to the ground. He jumped at Hessiana, "Take back your words immediately!" he demanded.
Hessiana: "….."
Ten minutes later, they left the small airport in two SUVs. SUV was most appropriate for the road condition in the cold zone. Hao Ren, Vivian and Hessiana were in the same car. Hessiana had still not recovered from the shock of the bad news. Mostly, she gazed blankly at the car roof during the entire journey and mumbled to herself occasionally, "...how could this be possible, it couldn't be real…"
Hao Ren squinted at her. "You have known Vivian for so long and yet you don't know her hoodoo power?" Hao Ren said.
"It must be a coincidence!" Hessiana seemed to not hear Hao Ren. She looked up; her eyes sparkling. "Even if Vivian is a real jinx, how could it happen so quick and so accurately? It must be a coincidence! Ma'am Vivian, do you want to challenge the fate with me?"
Vivian curled herself up in the back seat and was still at a loss. "You're kidding me. The Americans still lived on trees when I first challenged fate. Don't even mention that."
Hessiana pouted and glared at Hao Ren, who was still trying to make of what happened. "What? Have I offended you again?"
"Why are you not bankrupt yet?" Hessiana was gnashing her teeth. "You seem unaffected despite staying with Ma'am Vivian. I thought Ma'am Vivian had finally shaken off the jinx curse. Why are you not bankrupt yet?"
Hao Ren rubbed his nose and said, "Maybe the one behind me is tougher. And now think about it, Vivian, when you first rented my room, weren't you afraid of jinxing me?"
Vivian looked at Hao Ren. "That was why I tried to raise money to pay for my rent from the start. And, I even offered to do the house chores in lieu of the rent I owed you. I didn't want to take advantage of you and at the same time drag your down with my jinx. But then, I found that you didn't go bankrupt even I ate and slept in your house without paying a single cent. At that time, I knew that you're immune."
Hao Ren thought for a moment, suddenly he came to a realisation; he was magic-immune. Though he felt the Goddess was the reason he could resist Vivian's hoodoo, he still could not help associating it with his special ability. "Looks like I was born to be your caretaker. Am I the only person on Earth who could feed you?"
Hessiana was breathing fire as she glared at Hao Ren. "Shut up! When I picked wild fruits for Ma'am Vivian hundreds of years ago, your ancestors were still in fluid form!"
Hao Ren snorted and buried his face in his hand. "Have I smelled jealousy?"
At this time, Turcan who was driving in the front cut in. "People, it's metaphysics, it's not scientific."
Hessiana was in a bad mood. She hit Turcan on the head with her elbow. "Get lost! You freaking fantasy creature lectures science to us?"
But she forgot that she had been arming her crazy strike team with technology.
The SUV they rode in suddenly jolted as if the tyres had slipped. Hao Ren quickly stopped Hessiana. "Stop it! Let him drive."
"It's not about the driver," Hessiana said, pointing out the window. "We've reached."