The Creatures That We Are

Lithe Snake’s gaze turned hateful. “I could guess what the son of a bitch was thinking. I didn’t allow him to get his way. I let the twins go.”

“It was the first time Hyena lost his temper. He even raised his gun at my head. Benson stopped him and released the other slaves, complimenting me for doing the right thing.”

Gao Yang hid his surprise. Could the twins be Fresh Snow and White Dew?

White Dew was 27 years old, which meant she was 7 twenty years ago. It would fit the timeline.

“How did the twins escape?” Gao Yang pressed.

Lithe Snake paused. He didn’t expect Gao Yang to care about the little detail.

He tried his best to recall the memory. “I remember Hyena chasing after them as soon as they ran out of the cage, but he lost them. Only their clothes were left at the door. The twins seemed to have vanished into thin air.”

It was them!

One turned into a cat, and the other water, thus escaping easily.

Never would Fresh Snow and White Dew imagine that their savior back then was actually food to them.

Still, how did they end up in the hands of the trafficker? It didn’t make sense. Even though they were only seven at the time, it should be easy for them to deal with regular people—or untransformed monsters for the matter.

Lithe Snake hadn’t noticed Gao Yang’s bemusement. He continued, “That was only an interlude to Hyena. Afterward, he acted like his usual self, maintaining a pleasant relationship with others on the surface in order to rake in more money, while under the table, he had been looking into the faction behind the trafficker.”

“He traced the trafficker to the Godbearer Cult.” Qing Ling made an educated guess.

“Yes.” Lithe Snake scoffed. “Thinking back, he must have formed a connection to the Godbearer Cult at that time. The twins were likely Spectres, and the rich man was watching over them for the Cult. Perhaps the Cult was looking to tame them or experiment on them, but we threw a wrench into their plan.”

“Where exactly did Spectres come from?” asked Officer Huang.

“We don’t know yet.” Chen Ying shook her head and frowned in thought. “The Cult may know. That was how they captured young Spectres.”

“Very likely,” Gao Yang said, directing the conversation back to the matter at hand. “Let Lithe Snake finish first.”

Lithe Snake continued, “A month later, Hyena sought me out, saying that he was going to leave the mercenary group for a stronger and more interesting organization. He asked if I wanted to go with him. Although I hadn’t awakened my Talent then, I was human at the end of the day.”

“I hesitated. Benson and the other mercenaries were like brothers to me, but they were wanderers. We were fundamentally different species.”

“So you left with Hyena?” Officer Huang asked.

Lithe Snake shook his head. “I debated with myself that night and decided to stay in the end.”

“Haha.” Officer Huang was pleased. “It seems we’re kindred spirits.”

Lithe Snake didn’t look at him. Instead, he lowered his head, his gaze burning with even more intense hatred. “The day Hyena left, he invited everyone to have a drink at his mansion as farewell.”

“We all got wasted. I was vomiting in the restroom when I heard gunshots. When I went back to the living room, all my brothers had been killed with shots in the heads, their blood pooling on the floor.”

“Hyena stood amid the bodies with a pistol, sneering. I thought it was all a fever dream. I asked him why he killed our companions.”

“Companions? Don’t be absurd. They’re animals. It doesn’t matter if they’re allowed to live, but you, a human, developing attachment to them and seeing them as family? How repulsive. That’s why I decided to kill all of you before I leave, or I’m gonna feel disgusted every time I remember you in the future.”

“That was what Hyena had said.” Lithe Snake’s eyes became bloodshot. “I remember every word.”

The others fell into an enraged yet helpless silence. They wanted nothing more but to go back to the scene twenty years ago and kill Hyena personally.

Gao Yang suddenly remembered Lithe Snake’s attitude to wanderers when they first met—he was indifferent, even resentful.

Perhaps the one he resented was his past self, who had failed to protect his family.

“Hyena shot me but didn’t kill me. He knew how to make things hurt the most. He planted timed bombs around the mansion. I could only lie on the floor, watching Benson and the others grew stiff”

“Half a minute later, the mansion exploded. I tried my best to crawl my way to the balcony. I ended up blown up into three pieces and flying off the mansion. However, I survived.”

“It was...your Talent?” Chen Ying said.

“Yes, I comprehended Gecko and regrew my missing body parts. I was unconscious for a month. The one who saved me was one of the slaves we freed back in the rich man’s basement.”

“When I woke up, I was determined to seek revenge, but Hyena seemed to have disappeared completely. I couldn’t find anything on him.”

“I speculated that he must have joined the world of awakeners, so I came to Li City and joined the Qilin Guild. Over the years, I’ve been looking for Hyena nonstop, but to no avail. Ha, didn’t expect the bastard to have joined the Godbearer Cult.”

“The snakes and mice sure gather in the dirtiest corner.” Officer Huang halted after saying that and quickly gave Qing Ling and Lithe Snake an apologetic smile. “No offense. It’s just a saying.”

Qing Ling didn’t seem to care at all. Neither did Lithe Snake.

“What’s Hyena’s Talent?” Gao Yang asked.

“I don’t know.” Lithe Snake shook his head. “But the dollar sign seems to be a running theme. He had it tattooed on his chest and often etched it on the wanderers he tortured.”

“Before Hyena turned on us, he had shown me his ability to control wanderers through etching the dollar sign on them.”

Chen Ying frowned. “It’s likely a Summon-type Talent. Something similar to Black Tortoise’ Puppeteer, perhaps?”

Realization dawned on Gao Yang.

Is it Buy Off, serial number 193?

As one of the bottom twelve Talents, it corresponded with the top Summon-type Talent, Puppeteer.

Then it was basically a certainty that Hyena was a member of Tails, the group serving the Godbearer Cult.

Chen Ying thought of something then. After a moment of hesitation, she said, “Although this may not be the right time, there’s something that’s been bothering me.”

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