The Creatures that We Are

Vermilion Bird’s car drove smoothly at a moderate speed along the road at night. The radio was playing a song. Vermilion Bird’s fair, pretty index finger tapped a quick beat on the driving wheel.

When she tapped the 298th time, she grabbed her phone with a hand and picked two everyday photos from her photo album to make a post on her social media.

Half an hour later, Vermilion Bird arrived at Room 5001 of the White Lake Hotel.

The door wasn’t locked. Vermilion Bird opened it and entered to see Qilin sitting on the sofa, watching a late-night show for New Year’s Day.

“What a coincidence. I was watching it too,” Vermilion Bird said.

“It’s not as good as it was in the past. When I was little, I always watched the show with my parents.” Qilin picked up the remote control and turned off the television.

Vermilion Bird smiled. “Perhaps it’s not the show that has changed, but us.”

“True.” Qilin stood up with the support of his cane.

“Raven Shark found Gao Xinxin?” Without his glasses on, Qilin’s deep green eyes were so fierce that Vermilion Bird turned away reflexively.

“Is it certain?”

“Should be. He found Gao Yang with his friends back at the Old Fisherman’s Wharf, too.”

It took Qilin three seconds to make a decision. “We’ll set out now.”

“Now?” Vermilion Bird was a little surprised. She joked with a lightness she didn’t feel, “We should at least enjoy the holiday.”

“I’ll give you a vacation once we’re back,” Qilin responded with a joke, too.

“How many of us are going?”

“Just you and me.”

“Not Azure Dragon and Yan Liang?” Vermilion Bird didn’t expect that.

“They have other matters to attend to.” Qilin grabbed his coat and turned to leave.

Vermilion Bird followed him without another question.

…

…

Meanwhile, basement of the Starcatching Pavilion.

Nine Frost, Lithe Snake, and Gray Bear were out on patrol, while the others stayed in the basement. It was the New Year’s Day. They couldn’t watch the celebration without a television here, but only sat around eating and chatting. That, however, emphasized the sense that they only had each other, and it felt more like a holiday gathering.

Gao Yang sat a little away from the group with his legs crossed, monitoring the area in a three-kilometer radius with Sensory. Sometimes, individual awakeners would be detected, but he could tell that they were merely passing by based on their movement and speed.

While keeping watch with Sensory, Gao Yang considered his future plan.

Since the last time he made a wish, he had accumulated 1591 Luck points, close to 1920 points. Then he would be able to attempt a comprehension for a Guard-type Talent.

Hopefully, the wish he made last time at the Wishing Well would work, and he would comprehend Absolute Defense with one try. Then Gao Yang wouldn’t have to be so concerned going forward. Even when danger hit, he could at least create a barrier with the Talent and carry everyone to safety like an airship.

Gao Yang was anxious to acquire more Luck points.

However, there was no shortcut to gaining more.

He tried to have Lithe Snake attack him, but Lithe Snake could only be hostile to him for a moment and never consistently. The others were even less of a help in this.

Gao Yang considered fighting elite monsters, too, but decided against it in the end.

Elite monsters were no different from wanderers before their monsterhood awoke, and if Gao Yang actively hunted elite monsters, it would be no different from killing wanderers, which crossed a line for him.

Moreover, elite monsters posed little threat to Gao Yang now. He had experimented before. To gain Luck points, both parties must be going all in with killing intent whether he was fighting or running away.

In other words, if Gao Yang could easily take out the enemy but purposefully dragged out the fight, little Luck points would be generated.

In gaming terms, elite monsters lesser than pride monsters gave too little experience to boost Gao Yang’s strength.

The last method would be to fight a Qilin Guild member to the death.

That was even more impractical. Gao Yang didn’t want to kill the weak ones he could kill for certain, and they would provide little experience. The strong ones he must kill, Gao Yang wasn’t certain that he could beat them.

Now that Chen Ying had brought this many people to him. He must not expose himself. The risk was too great.

No matter how he thought about it, his only option seemed to be lurking for a little longer.

It’ll take six days for me to accumulate about 300 Luck points…

Gao Yang felt a stuffiness in his chest, and his head was spinning.

He had been using Sensory for five hours, reaching his limit.

He deactivated the Talent and took a deep breath to stabilize his energy. Not far from him, the group were chatting happily. Gao Yang didn’t immediately chime in.

He took out an unregistered phone and checked Gao Xinxin’s secret social media in private mode. She had made a post today, as he had expected. It was the picture of a moon with a poem as the caption.

—Alone in a foreign land as a stranger, I miss my loved ones doubly on every festive day.

Gao Yang felt a pang in his chest. Without giving the post another look, he quickly closed the page.

Then he habitually checked the social media pages of his former colleagues. Few had made any updates, but some still maintained their mundane identities and made everyday posts once in a while. He could glean a few things from their posts.

“Bygone Summerday” made a post twenty minutes ago, one of the starry night sky, and the other of a cup of milk tea.

The caption said, “The weather will be good tomorrow. I’d like to go to an escape room, but I have to work overtime.”

The post received many likes, and a user named “Mu Mu Large Sword[1]” liked and commented, “I always have time. Let’s go!”

Gao Yang was going to quickly swipe past it, but something made him stop, and he read the post three times, his heart pounding.

He shot to his feet, looking for something.

Qing Ling immediately noticed from amid the group. She rose and came up to Gao Yang. “Looking for me?”

Gao Yang nodded with a pale face and said quietly, “Gao Xinxin’s likely found.”

Qing Ling frowned. “You sure?”

Gao Yang handed her his phone. Qing Ling knew that “Bygone Summerday” was Vermilion Bird’s account. She checked the latest post and didn’t find anything unusual about it.

Gao Yang explained, “The stars, xingxing, refers to Xinxin. The weather will be good tomorrow, so it’ll be sunny tomorrow. That’s me since my Yang means sun. The escape room may be referring to hiding, and working overtime means going on a mission. I talked to Vermilion Bird about cigarettes and milk tea before. Milk tea is my choice, and the picture means that she’s changing her stance to help me.”

“Vermilion Bird’s warning me that they found Gao Xinxin and are going to capture her.”

“Aren’t you overthinking this?” Qing Ling thought he was reading too much into the post.

“I’m not sure.” Gao Yang was anxious. “Gao Xinxin’s hiding by the sea, and Raven Shark, a subordinate of Vermilion Bird, can control the fish. Perhaps his friends have found their way to Island Nation…”

Qing Ling fell silent. She wavered a little.

“No, I have to go to her.” Gao Yang had lost his calm. He couldn’t stay here for a second longer.

“You can’t go.” Qing Ling turned to glance at the group. “They need you here.”

Gao Yang was going to say something when Qing Ling interrupted him. “I’ll go.”

“No, it’s too dangerous.”

Qilin, Yan Liang, and Azure Dragon were too strong for Qing Ling, and she would have trouble escaping from them. What happened on the Huangsong Street must not be repeated.

“Either none of us go, or I go.” Qing Ling held his gaze. “Pick one.”

1. Two mu, 木, make the surname 林, Lin. And large is 大 da, sword is 劍 jian, pronounced the same as 建. This is Lin Dajian, Gao Yang’s roommate. ☜

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