The Creatures That We Are

“Let’s go, Little Yan. Don’t bother Brother and Sister when they are working.” Sha Ya knew that both Chen Ying and Gao Yang were members of Team Heavenbreakers, and she willingly kept her distance.

Hearing herself referred to as a sister, Chen Ying broke into a smile; even the way she waved became a little pretentious without her realizing. “Bye, Little Yan.”

“Bye, Brother and Sister.” Little Yan waved at Gao Yang and Can. Then she turned to wave at Chen Ying. “Bye, Auntie Chen.”

Chen Ying’s smile froze, and she became unmoving like a statue, as if she would shatter into pieces of stones the next second.

Soon, Gao Yang was left alone in the reception room with Can and Chen Ying.

Chen Ying closed the door, handing the photocopies in her hand to Gao Yang. “Here.”

Gao Yang took it and had a look. Can sidled closer to him to look at the photo as well.

It was the rooftop of a building. With moonlight providing illumination, it wasn’t too dark. A faint figure could be made out near the railing of the rooftop, her back to the camera.

It was an adult woman. Her most pronounced feature was her dark red hair, fluttering in the wind. She was dressed in a form-fitted black long-sleeved sweater and a black gauze dress, accentuating her tall, slim figure.

Gao Yang recognized at first glance that it was the woman he and Vermilion Bird had run into at the crossroad, at three o’clock in the morning.

“Where is this from?” Gao Yang was curious.

Chen Ying responded with a strange smile, “All the surveillance cameras at the crossroad had been broken, but luckily, a camera had been installed secretly on the rooftop by a resident of the building, and it was left intact.”

“The building is for both business and residence. When the weather is good, the residents hang their clothes on the rooftop to dry, but recently, the women’s undergarments kept going missing. They suspect there to be a pervert stealing small clothes, so someone installed a hidden camera to catch the thief, but ended up getting a shot of the woman.”

Can marveled, “Whoa, the pervert ended up being a great help.”

Gao Yang snorted silently. Isn’t the resident looking to catch the pervert the one being of help? How do you reach that ridiculous conclusion?

He stared at the blurred figure of the woman’s back in the photo. Then he flipped to the next one.

The woman had tilted slightly to the side, revealing part of her profile. The wind was too strong on the rooftop that night, though, and her messy hair obscured most of her face; her appearance remained a mystery.

In the next photo, the woman was gone. Only a blurred figure in motion was caught in the shot. He had to look closely to even make it out.

Chen Ying pointed at the blurred figure. “This building is called the Li River Building. According to where the woman disappeared to, she was likely to have leapt out of the frame...”

Chen Ying took out another set of photos. “We went there to survey the area and looked for clues under three presumptions: that she could jump ten meters, thirty meters, or fifty meters with one leap. Indeed, we found her footprint on the nearby Xiangxi Building thirty meters away. Look.”

Gao Yang took the photo. On the dust-covered beams connecting to a signboard was half a footprint.

Chen Ying continued, “This is likely her first foothold after jumping. Then she entered the Xiangxi Building through a window near the signboard, leading to the 26th floor corridor. She easily made it out of there.”

“Amon had looked into the surveillance footage of the elevators and main hall of the Xiangxi Building, but didn’t find a woman resembling her. The target could have left through the stairs or put on different clothes before leaving at a different time, but those are unlikely to be the case. Someone so strong wouldn’t waste time and energy on something this trivial.”

“Of course, there is the possibility that she has abilities in the veins of going through the walls, teleportation, invisibility, or changing her appearance or even her sex.”

Can gaped. Sister Chen Ying is such a pro. Her presence screams a strong, charismatic professional woman.

“And the footprint on the signboard was left from a leather flat Mary Jane shoes. It’s a common design for women and gives little information.”

Gao Yang quietly filed away the information before burning the photos to ashes.

“Thank you for the hard work. Please keep investigating.” Gao Yang gave her an approving nod before adding, “But don’t forget about the work for Operation: Heavenbreaker.”

“Understood.” Chen Ying nodded and turned to Gao Yang and Can. “I’ll give you a ride back. It’s difficult to hail taxis in this area.”

“Okay.” Gao Yang accepted the offer easily.

...

Chen Ying drove Gao Yang and Can to a crossroad near the Li City University. They got out of the car and returned to campus.

Can walked slowly on the way, looking up at Gao Yang every once in a while. Whenever Gao Yang tilted his head, though, she quickly looked away. She might as well have written on her face the question, Have you forgotten something, Captain?

Gao Yang chuckled. “Barbecue?”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Can hurriedly nodded, breaking into a beam. She would be wagging her tail if she had one.

“Any recommendations?”

“Yep yep!” Can took out her phone excitedly and showed Gao Yang the review app she had opened.

“How about this? There’s a special menu for couples. Don’t take it the wrong way, Captain! I don’t mean it like that! The set menu offers a twenty percent discount, and it offers a wide variety of ingredients in small portions. We’ll get to taste many different things without wasting food.”

“Sister Zhou and I often order the couple set menu. There’s also free pumpkin soup. They make a mean pumpkin soup! Everyone who has had it only has praises for it!”

Can rattled off quickly, like she had rehearsed the lines many times. Then she looked at Gao Yang, nervous but expectant, worried that he would say no.

“Sure,” Gao Yang said.

Can paused. She didn’t expect things to go so well. She actually had many backup plans prepared.

“What are you waiting for? Lead the way.”

“Okie-dokie!” Can sprang into action and started jogging forward like she was worried that Gao Yang would change his mind. “It’s right ahead. We’ll get there soon.”

Ten minutes later, Gao Yang and Can arrived at the barbecue place.

The restaurant wasn’t big, and it was a little old, but it was approachable like the typical mom-and-pop places and saw quite a lot of patrons.

The two of them sat down at a table for four, ordering a couple set named Couple BBQ Plate.

The waiter turned on the smokeless grill and laid down the aluminum foil, brushing it with a layer of oil before serving them a large plate of proteins, paired with fresh greens and two bowls of thick golden pumpkin soup.

“Try the soup first, Captain!”

Gao Yang picked up the bowl and had a small sip, maintaining a poker face.

Can held her breath.

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