The first Hao Ren did after he returned was to check in with Raven 12345, but the goddess had not returned from the world of the gods. Her temporary replacement received him, but Hao Ren did not mind his own boss' long absence. At least, he did not have to worry about the crazy goddess dumping a mountain-load of assignments on him.
The day started with clear skies and a cheerful sun. After days of cloudy weather, the southern area finally had a break. The heavy snow from the previous night covered the streets with a thick layer of snow. Looking out the window, one could see the entire old street decorated in plain white and gray. A chilly breeze was in the air, and Hao Ren was happy to just stay indoors in his warm house and enjoy the snowy view. He moved his tea set to the window in the living room and enjoyed a cup of hot tea as he played a board game with Y'zaks.
Everyone was busy with their own thing. The living room was quiet, interrupted only by the occasional tapping sound of a stone piece. The window in the living room fogged up from the boiling hot tea. Hao Ren looked out through the mist at the old street outside, which was dyed white from the snow. He thought of his past adventures, of the floating city on Io and the propagation of life on Tannagost, and of the nebulae seen on Inferno—all these fantastic and magnificent views slowly melted away into the snowy street outside. It was hard to imagine all the different life stories unfolding in different universes at the same time—the stories of joy and sorrow, life and death, as well as a whole new world to explore. For someone who had been through it all, he was now snuggling by the windowsill, nursing a pot of tea and playing board games with a retired old demon. The sharp contrast made him emotional, but he did not know why exactly. In the end, he only managed to quietly sigh in bewilderment. "Haih…"
"What?" Y'zaks looked up at him, grinning widely. "You're not thinking about our game, I'm sure."
Hao Ren smiled and casually made his next move on the board. "Don't you think it's wonderful if the whole universe is as peaceful as this?"
"That's the most horrible thing I can imagine." Y'zaks shook his head. "It means that the universe has become stagnant and is heading towards its end."
Hao Ren gaped before he smiled helplessly. "...That's you alright."
The IDT quietly sprawled itself on the windowsill as it idly watched a certain inspector and devil kill their time in their own way. Suddenly, it vibrated once and appeared more lively. "The inspector's forum—a new topic has been created. It's regarding your latest mission report."
Hao Ren did not even look up at the IDT. "What's in it?"
"The gist of it is that the cursed loner, whose visits always lead to disaster, did not actually cause trouble this time. Your colleagues have expressed their greatest surprise."
Hao Ren's hand froze in the middle of moving a piece. "...Aren't they over that yet? Don't they ever get bored?"
"Can't blame them. You were assigned to this massive project in the Plane of Dreams." The IDT could understand the situation. "Think about it: you see traces of ecological disaster in almost every corner of the universe. Dig around, and nine times out of ten, you'll find someone's grave…"
Hao Ren gave the IDT a sideways glance and slowly placed a black piece down on the board. "We're researching an elegant work of art over here, don't be so crass…"
The IDT shot towards him and slapped Hao Ren on the forehead. "Elegant my a**! You two old farts have been playing Gomoku from 8.30 to 10.30, what's so f*cking elegant about that?! That teapot is the only thing that's elegant in this entire living room, and you use it as a hand-warmer!"
Hao Ren pulled the IDT awkwardly to the side and pointed at Y'zaks. "The problem is, this old demon only knows how to play Gomoku…"
"You took back your moves even in a game with Y'lisabet, so save your excuses," the IDT did not hold back on belittling Hao Ren. "The only people in the house who are willing to play with you now are Y'zaks and Lil' Pea, am I right?"
Hao Ren could not argue.
Y'zak smiled at the familiar exchange between Hao Ren and the IDT as he made another move on the board. He then stood up and rolled his shoulders. "I'm leaving. It's still early, so I'm heading out for a walk."
With Y'zaks gone, Hao Ren was truly bored now. He took a sweeping glance of the living room and realized that the IDT was right—no one in the house would play with such a bad loser like him. In the end, he settled on the fish tank nearby and scooped Lil' Pea out of the water. "Nice Lil' Pea, won't you play with Daddy?"
At least, he could do that.
With Lil' Pea on the other side of the board, Hao Ren continued the game with his "daughter". Despite the IDT's constant mumbling commentary from the side, the young mermaid was excited about the game. She leaped happily around the board, hugging a relatively large stone piece against her chest as she considered her next move. Sitting opposite her was Hao Ren, looking a little nervous—there was a possibility he would not win against this mermaid too…
When Lily and Vivian came back from grocery shopping, they saw Hao Ren playing against the fish —the former was grimacing as he considered his next move, while the latter hugged her own piece innocently. Hao Ren was asking Lil' Pea, "Can Daddy take back another move? Just this once, and I'll get you chopsticks… Chopsticks made from Narra wood!"
"Look at you…" Vivian's voice interrupted Hao Ren's bargaining. "How can you bully a fish?"
Hao Ren turned to see Vivian carrying a basket full of vegetables and approaching him. He could feel the cold from outside still lingering on her. Lily was also back with her, but the former immediately went to the television. "Switch the channel, switch the channel. Ahh, we're late, we're late, we're late…"
The two of them had just returned from grocery shopping. From the way they looked, Hao Ren found it hard to imagine how they were like sworn enemies just two years ago. He peeked inside Vivian' basket and muttered, "You two seem to be getting along."
Both Vivian and Lily replied in unison, "Who's getting along with her?!"
"That's my line!" Lily leaped up from the sofa and stood on the armrest in a pose. "I was forced to go shopping with this batty bat. Who knows what she'd do with the money? I—"
"You just went out to take a leak in the snow." Vivian threw her a sideways glance. "Just admit it. You've already admitted that you're a werehusky."
Hao Ren's side comment had riled them up. Now both the bat and dog were arguing again. Nevertheless, they did not really fight anymore. It was more a battle of words, and Hao Ren enjoyed their exchange. "Are you sure you're enemies? Have you forgotten about your dynamic duo performance with the ark people…"
Vivian paused, recalling how she and Lily had inadvertently been recognized as the goddesses of fire and ice by the ark people. Her expression became unreadable. "Landlord, don't ever bring that up… To think that I paired up with the werehusky…"
Hao Ren marveled at how Vivian took a while to respond to that. He began to rummage through the contents of the grocery basket to see if there was anything of interest. Vivian slapped his hands away. "Stop it. Hey, Doggie, come help me choose the vegetables—"
Before she could finish, a lovely ringtone came from her pocket.
It took Vivian a while to realize that it was her own phone ringing. She fished out her phone and frowned at the name of the caller. "Hessiana… I shouldn't have given her my number. Hello? What's up?"
Vivian accepted the call impatiently to hear what annoying reason Hessiana had come up with this time to bother her. However, the longer she was on the phone, the more concerned she looked.
"What is it?" Hao Ren asked curiously.
Vivian ended the call and looked baffled. "All the demon hunters in the Greek Peninsula are gone."
"Umm…" Hao Ren did not really understand her. "Gone?"
"Vanished. Their strongholds are deserted. The guards in charge of monitoring the otherworldlings are not at their posts," Vivian sounded distracted like she could hardly believe what she was saying. "The other sanctuaries are also said to be abandoned. Hessiana asked if there's anything amiss with the demon hunters here."