The Creatures That We Are

The great fight had drained Gao Yang and the other four and left them covered in wounds. They roughly patched themselves up and took some rest, discussing their next move.

Now, Hyena’s corpse had been rendered into nothingness, the altar on the top of the hill had broken into pieces from getting plowed, and the countless bones of the giant skeletal life monster were scattered in the area, protruding from the ground like white tombstones.

The underground basement of the winery had no doubt been blown up entirely as well, leaving little clue to be found.

“The operation is getting bigger in scale, but not our findings.” Officer Huang took out a cigarette, feeling anxious. Su Xi was expected to give birth soon.

“At least life monsters are proven to be real,” Gao Yang offered.

“Ha, that’s true.” Officer Huang lit up the cigarette and took a drag with practiced ease. “It’s my first time seeing a life monster, albeit only the skeleton.”

“Same for me,” said Gao Yang.

It was a first for everyone here.

That prompted Lithe Snake to take out his phone and snap two photos of their surroundings. A few seconds later, their phones rang at the same time.

Gao Yang took out his phone. Lithe Snake had sent the photos to the encoded group chat called ‘Team Heavenbreaker ❤?❤?❤?’. And he added a comment to humble-brag.

Lithe Snake: Just killed a life monster. I’m beat.

A second later, messages exploded in the group.

Gray Bear: !!!!!!!

[Gray Bear] nudges [Lithe Snake]

Gray Bear: Life monster? You’re talking out of your ass!

Lithe Snake: Your jealousy is unbecoming.

Can: Whoa! Seriously?! Life monster!

Can: It looks epic. Did Captain get hurt? Are you all alright?

[Can] nudges [Seven Shadow]

Seven Shadow: It’s difficult, but we all come out alright. Everything’s fine.

Nine Frost: As long as you’re all okay.

Heavenly Dog: Cool.

Amon: +1

Nainai: (Scoffing with dignity) A mere life monster dared challenge this Empress. It got what it deserved!

Chen Ying: Elder Seven Shadow, I was made and lost them.

Seven Shadow: Come right back.

Chen Ying: Okay.

[Gray Bear] nudges [Lithe Snake]

Gray Bear: Hey, what’s that about the life monster? Tell me in detail, you bastard!

...

Qing Ling went off to deal with the other bodyguards at the winery, while the rest of them sat amid the ruins on the hill, bathing in the clear sunlight of dawn. They killed time waiting for Chen Ying to arrive by chatting on their phones. The group chat was crowded with messages.

Gao Yang could understand their reaction. It was the first time awakeners came into direct contact with a life monster.

Before, life monsters and death monsters existed only in rumors.

To Gao Yang’s knowledge, there had only been two awakeners who could say for sure that life monsters and death monsters existed.

One of them was Qilin, but the man knew how to keep secrets; he hadn’t gone into details about the Gates of Closure or life monsters and death monsters.

The other being Baili Yi, who was the ultimate riddler and the master of cryptic talk. He showed up out of nowhere and gave Gao Yang a cryptic spiel before disappearing just as suddenly.

Gao Yang had even suspected if he had dreamed the man, and the words lingered in his mind.

Tonight, a life monster made its grand appearance, albeit the skeleton of one that had been long dead.

According to Hyena, however, they were planning to catch a living white phoenix, which meant there was a living life monster somewhere in the world.

But where could a monster this big be hiding? Could it be slumbering inside a cavern filled with gold coins like dragons, away from prying eyes?

There was another more likely possibility: life monsters could transform at will.

After all, Nainai had the ability to increase and decrease in size. It stood to reason that the powerful life monsters would be able to do the same.

Perhaps they had been masquerading as wanderers, hiding in plain sight.

“Captain,” Lithe Snake broke Gao Yang out of his thoughts.

“Yes?” Gao Yang turned around. Lithe Snake had regrown a third of his arm.

“We can set up an ambush. Astronaut and No.10 may come back to help.”

“Lithe Snake.” Officer Huang smiled wryly. “You’ve got spirit, but do you really think we can do another fight in this state?”

Lithe Snake said derisively, “That’s why I suggested we ambush them.”

“There’s no point,” Gao Yang said with certainty. “They won’t come back.”

“Why?”

“The reason is twofold. First, when they noticed Chen Ying, they opted to shake her rather than turning back to deal with her.”

Officer Huang and Lithe Snake nodded slightly.

Gao Yang continued, “Second, Hyena didn’t contact them when he saw us, and he fled to the hill in the back rather than the front gates of the winery after escaping the underground lab. Why?”

Lithe Snake caught on. “Hyena knew that Astronaut and No.10 wouldn’t come back to save him even if they learned that he was in trouble.”

Gao Yang nodded. “Based on their conversation, the three of them felt quite threatened by the three major organizations. Astronaut and No.10 didn’t know how many of us there were or how strong we were. They wouldn’t take the chance.”

“Ha, the one who sold out others his whole life ended up abandoned by his teammates.” Officer Huang smacked his lips with a smile. “Karma catches up to everyone. No sin is ever left unpunished.”

“Here’s Chen Ying.” Lithe Snake looked down at the bottom of the hill.

Chen Ying had arrived in her car, and Qing Ling, having dealt with the other bodyguards at the winery, was in the passenger seat.

Chen Ying got out of the car. She was shocked to see the hill and then her companions. The hill looked like it had been bombarded by fighter jets, and her companions were all wounded, tattered, and drained.

She jogged up to them. “You alright? What happened here?”

Officer Huang smiled wryly. “Didn’t we say it in the group chat? We killed a life monster.”

“I thought you were joking. Weren’t you going after Hyena? Where did the life monster come in?” Chen Ying felt like a reader who hadn’t been paying attention and thus missed several chapters.

“We’ll talk on our way back.” Gao Yang had taken enough rest. He stood up slowly. “Let’s gather the group first.”

...

With the lackeys cleaned up, the six of them returned to No.7 Winery and imprisoned the servants, turning it into a temporary base.

During the day, they took turns patrolling and resting.

Past midnight, Azure Dragon arrived with three subordinates. As representatives of the Hundred Rivers Union and the Twelve Zodiac Signs respectively, Chen Ying and Officer Huang stayed behind to help Azure Dragon clean up the mess at No.7 Winery and conduct follow-up investigation.

Nainai, with Shapeshifter, was the go-to cover-up specialist for group missions, so she stayed too. Lithe Snake was also left in the West Nation to recover since he was the most seriously injured.

As a result, Gao Yang and Qing Ling were alone in catching a flight back to Li City at three o’clock in the morning.

The two freshmen did have to return to school. Their leave was coming to an end.

Disguising as a young foreign couple with the impression of wanderers and matching red crystal necklaces, they went to the airport and waited for their flight at the departure gate.

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