The Creatures That We Are

“The prostitute Dick took home must be Hyena’s subordinate,” said Chen Ying.

“Not necessarily.” Gao Yang crushed the bug and threw it on the bed. “She’s unlikely to be one of Hyena’s, but an insignificant informant, an amateur even.”

“What made you think so?”

“Because she’s unprofessional. She didn’t even take the bug afterward.”

After a bemused pause, Gao Yang continued, “And were the woman Hyena’s subordinate, Hyena and Astronaut would’ve taken the bug with them after entering Dick’s flat, erasing their traces as much as possible.”

“Unless they didn’t know about the bug.” Chen Ying caught on. “They learned from their subordinate that Dick was looking into the Godbearer Cult, but they didn’t know how their subordinate learned the information, that their subordinate had sent an amateurish informant to plant a bug.”

“Sometimes, professionals could have a more difficult time getting what they wanted. Dick would’ve spotted them.” Gao Yang thought for a moment. “The amateur, perhaps counterintuitively, made Dick complacent.”

Chen Ying’s eyes lit up. “I know which bar Dick met the prostitute. We can go there and have a look.”

Gao Yang nodded. “The bar isn’t open during the day. We’ll have to wait until the night.”

“Alright. Let’s check the flat some more and make sure there’s no other clue.”

Gao Yang and Chen Ying spent a little more time searching, not even leaving out the kitchen and the bathroom, but there was nothing.

Before the day fully broke, they headed back to the hotel—through the window, of course.

After washing up, they each took a bed and rested for a while.

At noon, Qing Ling and Officer Huang came back. They staked out near the warehouse of the beverage factory, but only the police showed up to deal with the aftermath of their conflict. There was no one suspicious who could be Hyena or Astronaut, or a member of the Godbearer Cult.

Gao Yang and Chen Ying yielded the beds to Qing Ling and Officer Huang so that they could take a nap.

Four o’clock in the afternoon, Nainai and Lithe Snake came back.

Lithe Snake wasn’t one for finesse. He pretended to be part of the mafia and kidnapped Dick’s friend at the intelligence agency. After Nainai made sure that the man was a wanderer, they first checked his body. There was no dollar sign that would signify a contract with Hyena.

Then Lithe Snake interrogated and intimidated him like he would a regular person, thus getting an answer easily. The man had nothing to do with Dick’s death, and he wasn’t an informant of the Godbearer Cult.

Then Qing Ling and Officer Huang left the room to Nainai and Lithe Snake.

Nainai, however, didn’t need to rest. She had gotten enough sleep in Lithe Snake’s breast pocket.

Seven o’clock in the evening, the rest of the team had some food and stood by at the hotel, while Gao Yang and Chen Ying went to the bar Dick frequented as a couple, looking for the prostitute.

They dressed locally and arrived at the bar together. There were few patrons at the moment. Gao Yang ordered a glass of whiskey, and Chen Ying ordered a specialty cocktail.

They sat under the suggestive light in a corner, drinking while observing.

At about nine o’clock, the bar was getting boisterous.

A few burly men covered in tattoos drank beer as they spouted lecherous words, raising their voices.

The two tables at the center of the bar were put together. A small group of eight young men and women were watching a sports game from there.

In another corner, a young couple were busy necking, showing so little reservation that they might as well be in their own bedroom.

Chen Ying and Gao Yang tried their best to fit in. They drank as they looked around the bar, waiting until eleven o’clock in the evening. The blonde woman was still nowhere to be seen.

They were both on their third glass.

“I don’t think she’s showing up,” Chen Ying said in their mother tongue.

“I’m wondering,” Gao Yang responded in their mother tongue too. “Could the woman have disappeared? Or forced to disappear, to be precise?”

Chen Ying’s face darkened as she nodded. “Very likely.”

“Let’s wait a little longer.” Gao Yang took out his phone and sent an encoded message to Lithe Snake.

“Alright. We don’t have much to do if we go back, anyway.” Chen Ying smiled wryly. “But we can’t drink more. It’ll be troublesome if we get drunk.”

Chen Ying had had a little too much alcohol once, and according to Colorless, she...wasn’t exactly a graceful drunk.

The two of them stayed at the bar past midnight. During the time, Chen Ying got hit on by many male patrons, and even Gao Yang got hit on by a man once.

The patrons came and went. The bar remained crowded with people.

Gao Yang and Chen Ying stayed.

Clack.

The glass door with a wooden handle opened. A blonde woman with a voluptuous body walked in. She looked to be in her thirties, her makeup heavy. She was wearing a sexy black low-cut sling dress, fishnet stockings, and red high heels, carrying a shiny fish scale handbag with a fashion cigarette in her left hand.

She drew many eyes from the patrons as soon as she showed up—mainly the men.

Swaying her hip as she walked, she weaved through the crowd and sat down at the bar, taking a drag of her smoke before waving at the bartender. “Margarita.”

“Of course, ma’am.”

The bartender started making her order.

The blonde woman sat on the tall stool with her legs crossed, smoking as she looked around like a predator looking for prey. Soon, her eyes met Gao Yang’s.

Her eyes glinted before she turned to look at others, like nothing had happened.

“It’s her,” Chen Ying said with certainty. She had gotten a good look at the woman’s face.

Gao Yang nodded with his glass in hand, unhurried.

“Let’s go.” Chen Ying was going to stand up, but Gao Yang stopped her.

“Wait.”

“Why?” Chen Ying asked with confusion.

“Just wait and see.” Gao Yang didn’t explain.

The blonde woman looked around, seeing only second rate patrons with no one catching her eyes. Visibly disappointed, she smashed the cigarette butt in the ashtray and let out a soft breath.

“Your margarita, ma’am.” The young bartender handed her a glass of blue cocktail with a slice of lemon on the rim.

“Thank you.” The blonde woman lifted the glass and took a sip, frowning slightly.

“Courtesy of my employer, ma’am.” The young bartender pointed at the table.

The woman looked down and only realized then that there was a small piece of paper she hadn’t noticed because it had been under the glass. She took it quietly and had a look, her lips curving up with pleasant surprise she couldn’t contain.

Without hesitation, she put down the glass and left a dollar bill on the bar counter.

“I wish you luck tonight, ma’am.” The bartender took the dollar bill.

“And good luck to you too.”

The woman walked around the bar, hurriedly heading toward the kitchen in the back.

As soon as she entered the dark corridor, a man’s hairy arm shot out and muffled her.

“Help...hmph...”

Shocked, the woman tried to struggle, but the man didn’t give her the chance to, quickly dragging her into the storage room and locking the door.

R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at freew𝒆(b)novel.c(o)m Only