The Creatures that We Are

Gao Yang had learned from Chen Ying that the Rune Circuits possessed by the Hundred Rivers Union had always been kept safe by Colorless, Goldthread, and Green Tea, mainly Colorless and Goldthread.

That was in line with Gao Yang’s experience. When he borrowed the Rune Circuit from the Union to level up his Double to level 4, Colorless and Goldthread were the ones who received him, and the Rune Circuit was kept in Goldthead’s briefcase.

With Green Tea getting killed by Dust, he was automatically taken off the suspect list. That left Colorless and Goldthread.

Of course, Gao Yang could’ve just told Chen Ying her conclusion and had her imprison Colorless and Goldthread for interrogation, polygraph, dream invasion, or psychic torment. There were many ways to flush out Dust.

However, he decided against those ideas after some deliberation. He had four reasons:

First, Gao Yang couldn’t be certain that the spy was between Colorless and Goldthread.

Second, Colorless and Goldthread were both senior members of the Hundred Rivers Union with formidable power. Antagonizing both at the same time could lead to chaos or even bloodshed, and the Union might not be able to take it.

Third, Dust was likely to have cursed more people around her in secret. If she got cornered, she might take many down with her.

Fourth, Gao Yang had a personal reason for helping Chen Ying look for the spy. He wanted to capture Dust alive to track down the Heavenly Godbearer pulling the strings behind the scenes. It wouldn’t be ideal for him for Dust to simply fall into the Union’s clutch.

Moreover, there was a possibility that Qilin would seize the chance to intervene, having Vermilion Bird question Dust’s body. He could even do something much worse, insisting that the body revealed Gao Yang to be the leader of Tails and a high-ranking member of the Godbearer Cult. Then Gao Yang would have a real difficulty defending himself.

With all those reasons combined, Gao Yang decided to capture Dust personally.

It would be risky, but he had chosen the path with the greatest risk the moment he started the Nine Scions. He couldn’t turn around now.

He learned from Dragon that while strength and luck mattered, what mattered even more was the courage to go all in.

Who among them wasn’t gambling in order to pursue their goals and survive til the end in the cruel Mist World?

An insane plan took root in Gao Yang’s mind.

The key player of the plan wasn’t Gao Yang, Chen Ying, or even the suspects, Colorless and Goldthread, but an insignificant character who had almost been ignored.

Ke Yo.

The first step of the plan was to recruit Ke Yo.

She was necessary for the plan to work, and fortunately, Gao Yang had already been laying down the groundwork before the conception of the plan.

The first time Gao Yang and Ke Yo met in Liu Qingying’s Sweet Dream, he went for an earnest approach to appeal to her sentimental side. In truth, he didn’t have any other ways. He could only hope that Edmond and he had seen Ke Yo right: that she was kind at heart and wasn’t a bad person.

Of course, being earnest still required skills and some posturing. In that, he had learned much from Dragon.

Gao Yang seized the chance to throw two “sentimental bombs” at Ke Yo.

The first was, “I promised Edmond that I would take care of you.”

The words made Ke Yo waver, as he had expected.

It was clear that even without her memory, her feelings and trust for Edmond remained deeply rooted in her heart; it was almost instinctual. She felt a fleeting pang whenever she heard Edmond’s name.

The second bomb was the ring.

Gao Yang told her that Edmond had a matching ring with hers.

Coming from Gao Yang, the revelation gave Ke Yo a preconception that Gao Yang knew Edmond to some degree, at least better than Vermilion Bird did, and that there was an agreement between the two men.

That was a little low of Gao Yang.

He could guess that Vermilion Bird would most likely keep the ring a secret for the moment. That was because Vermilion Bird preferred tackling a problem step by step, and she would like to give Ke Yo the appropriate nudge when the time was right, slowly turning the girl into her own people.

Gao Yang used that to villainize Vermilion Bird, exploiting the difference between what he knew and what Ke Yo knew.

Indeed, Ke Yo checked on Edmond’s body and realized that the ring was gone, yet Vermilion Bird had never told her about it. That further tipped the scale in Ke Yo’s heart.

She began to suspect that Vermilion Bird might not care about her as much as it seemed, that Vermilion Bird simply wanted her for her ability. In comparison, Gao Yang was at least more honest with her. And Gao Yang had made a promise to Edmond.

A week later, Gao Yang and Ke Yo met again in Liu Qingying’s Sweet Dream. After careful consideration, Ke Yo chose to join the Nine Scions.

For one, she believed that to be Edmond’s dying wish. For another, she was leaning toward Gao Yang in the choice between him and Vermilion Bird. Finally, compared to the extreme ways of Guildmaster Qilin, the Nine Scions were more in line with her sense of justice.

Gao Yang instinctively knew that Ke Yo hadn’t lied to him, but he still used Lie Detection on her; it concluded that she didn’t lie, and she was benevolent.

It was possible because of another substantial change to Sweet Dream upon reaching level 7. Those in the dream could use any Talents and get a result like they were in reality, only that the consequences wouldn’t actually reflect in reality.

In other words, it would be a simulation.

With Lie Detection, though, a simulation was more than good enough.

If Gao Yang burned Ke Yo in the dream, Ke Yo would feel pain, but her body wouldn’t actually be burned when she woke up.

The result Gao Yang got with Lie Detection in the dream, though, would be the same as the one he would get in reality.

Liu Qingying had given Gao Yang the information unprompted.

As a reputable information broker, Liu Qingying had to confirm the accuracy of any intel, and whether Ke Yo actually wanted to join the Nine Scions had to be validated, which Gao Yang could do with Lie Detection.

Gao Yang promised Liu Qingying that he would tell her if Ke Yo was lying, but only after three days.

Liu Qingying understood. Whether Ke Yo was joining the Nine Scions for real would merely be a relatively important intel to Liu Qingying, but it could be a deadly risk to Gao Yang and Ke Yo. The consequences of a leak would be unbearable.

After Liu Qingying left her dream, Gao Yang had a discussion with Ke Yo and said that he would whisk her away amid the chaos while the Twelve Zodiac Signs and the Hundred Rivers Union were trading Rune Circuits.

Then Gao Yang told her his real plan.

“There are two versions. One’s easy mode, and the other’s hard mode,” Gao Yang said. “I’ll tell you the easy mode, first. Do nothing tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll take you away.”

Ke Yo nodded. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, “What about hard mode?”

Gao Yang broke into a faint smile. “Tell Qilin about the fact that I’ll come to rescue you tomorrow.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Ke Yo was shocked, but then she came to a realization. “You want to make me…a double agent?”

“Yes.”

“You really are mad.”

“Do you want to hear the plan or not?” Gao Yang’s eyes glinted as he waited for the fish to bite the bait.

Ke Yo nodded. The dream wasn’t ending any time soon. She might as well hear him out.

“Qilin’s strong and confident, smart, too. Based on what I know about him, he’ll use the chance to set up a trap for me if you tell him about my plan.”

“Of course, I’ll make the preparations to not be captured by him.”

“But with you demonstrating your loyalty to the Guild, Qilin will reward you or even make you the new Elder. Given your Talent, you will be good enough to be appointed the title.”

“I don’t think…that’s likely,” Ke Yo said. “And you said it yourself. He’s smart. Why would he just put his trust in me?”

“It’s not out of trust that he’ll make you an Elder. It can be a message and proof.”

Ke Yo shook her head. “I don’t get it.”

“The three major organizations and the Nine Scions have been headhunting. I told you about Dr. Jia and Gregor.”

Ke Yo nodded.

“Let’s consider what happened with Dr. Jia a tie between us and the Guild. The Nine Scions won with Gregor. And you’re our third match.”

Gao Yang smiled. “Qilin needs to score to prove himself to others. It’ll be meaningful for you to trick the Nine Scions and pledge yourself to the Qilin Guild. That’ll be a humiliation to the Cult and the Nine Scions and an achievement of the Qilin Guild.”

“Even if Qilin doesn’t trust you, he’ll reward you heavily for the act. That will impact the competition for talent going forward, and even the war itself.”

“Alright, I get it now.” Ke Yo couldn’t help but admire Gao Yang a little. He seemed to be around her age, yet he was seeing many more steps ahead.

“That’s only on paper, though.” Ke Yo wasn’t feeling optimistic. “You want me to be a double agent in the Guild, but I can’t do it well. I cave easily under pressure.”

“No, I never intend for you to be a double agent. I simply want you to confuse the Guild and gain the ability to move freely.”

Seeing Ke Yo getting increasingly confused, he said patiently, “It is a little complicated. No rush. I’ll explain slowly.”

“According to the plan, you’ll ‘sell me out’ and earn some trust from Qilin. Thus, you’ll be able to move freely without Vermilion Bird monitoring you. And you’ll have effectively proclaimed yourself an enemy of the Nine Scions. The news will get to the spy in the Hundred Rivers Union, Dust.”

“Ah!” Ke Yo finally caught on. “Are you…using the fact that I was a Tail member to root out Dust?”

“Yes.” Gao Yang was pleased. The girl was bright. He hadn’t chosen the wrong person.

“God, you really, really are out of your mind!”

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