The Creatures That We Are

“Cover us, Blood Amber. Let’s go!” Madam Wu ordered decisively and bolted.

None of her teammates objected. They all followed her quickly. Blood Amber, dressed in her spacesuit, vomited a blood clot from her mouth.

Like a living worm, the blood clot writhed and struggled on the ground until two seconds later, it exploded with a bang, spreading black smoke like a gas grenade, and a poisonous one at that.

Gao Yang and the other three didn’t chase down the Tails members. They were wary of Blood Amber’s virus grenade, for one, and their main goal was to save Su Xi.

Hearing what Smoker said, Officer Huang turned to where the white shooting star had landed. That must be where Edmond was. He rushed in without hesitation.

“It can be dangerous,” Heavenly Dog reminded him faintly, but Officer Huang didn’t seem to hear him.

Exchanging a glance, Gao Yang and Qing Ling ran after Officer Huang, while Heavenly Dog followed after some deliberation.

Gao Yang and Officer Huang reached the door to the train car first. When Officer Huang was about to hop on, Gao Yang grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Allow me.”

After making sure that the system didn’t sound a warning, Gao Yang took a deep breath and jumped onto the train, opening the heavy door while getting ready to teleport away at any time.

Creak.

The door opened. Gao Yang frowned.

“So? Is Su Xi there?” Officer Huang was anxious. He quickly hopped on as well.

Gao Yang didn’t say anything. In the dim train car lay two people. He couldn’t see them clearly.

Officer Huang’s heart was in his throat. For a moment, he couldn’t move. He didn’t dare to walk up and check their identities.

Whoosh. A ball of flames lit up in Gao Yang’s palm, illuminating the train car. Gao Yang sighed in relief, and so did Officer Huang. Neither was his wife, Su Xi.

While it wasn’t ideal that Su Xi wasn’t here, it wasn’t a bad thing, either.

Gao Yang walked up to the interior of the train car and recognized the two on the floor, Edmond and Ke Yo.

Gao Yang cautiously knelt down and called out, “Edmond?”

“Ugh...” Edmond groaned in pain, holding onto the last strand of his life.

Gao Yang immediately flipped him over, and his heart pounded. While Edmond didn’t have any visible wound on him, his face was eerily pale, and he was bleeding from all his orifices, barely holding on.

Gao Yang could sense his energy and vitality fading. He was going to die.

“Edmond! Where’s Su Xi?” Officer Huang rushed over and pressed his gun to Edmond’s head. “Tell me, where is she?!”

Gao Yang shook his head at him. Edmond was dying. Death wasn’t much of a threat to a dying man.

Officer Huang paused and slowly lowered his gun, feeling helpless.

Gao Yang asked gently, “Tell me, Edmond. Where’s Su Xi?”

“Promise, promise me...and I’ll...tell you...”

Gao Yang knew what he meant. He had a condition.

Gao Yang didn’t want to agree to it. He could wait until Edmond died and had Vermilion Bird question the body, but they couldn’t afford to waste even a second to rescue Su Xi.

“Alright,” Gao Yang said. It didn’t hurt to make an empty promise.

“Ke Yo, the kid...has never killed...or done anything wrong... Take care of her for me...”

Gao Yang turned to look at the unconscious Ke Yo. She was seriously injured too, but she could be saved.

“I promised you,” Gao Yang said.

“Swear...it...” Edmond grabbed Gao Yang’s hand and said through clenched, bleeding teeth, “Swear it!”

“I swear that I won’t hurt Ke Yo, and I’ll take care of her for you,” Gao Yang said calmly.

“Thank you...” Edmond smiled with relief, his eyes dimming. “The Island Nation... Perhaps it won’t be too late yet...”

Then his head drooped, and he died.

“Island Nation!” Officer Huang finally got the clue he wanted. He asked urgently, “How do we get there?”

“There’s a flight every three days, so the next flight is tomorrow night. The other official channel is by the sea. It’ll take 20 hours. No visa needed.” Heavenly Dog came through the door and glanced at his digital watch. “There’s a cruise setting out at twelve tonight. We can make it if we hurry.”

“Let’s go!” Officer Huang rushed out immediately.

Without hesitation, Gao Yang laid Edmond down and followed them out of the train car. Little Tian had come out of hiding and approached.

“Little Tian,” Gao Yang instructed. “Keep watch here. Once reinforcements come, have them save Ke Yo and lock her up. Leave Edmond’s body to Vermilion Bird.”

Little Tian nodded obediently. “Okay.”

Heavenly Dog grabbed Officer Huang’s and Gao Yang’s hands, while Gao Yang held onto Qing Ling with his other hand. The four of them flew away.

They rushed to the harbor downstream of the Li River, having booked their tickets with their phones to board a seven-day luxurious cruise tour. It would depart from the harbor, going past several isolated islands on the way, the Island Nation being one of them.

There were only two premium suites left on the cruise, which cost a fortune. As an Elder of the Qilin Guild and the head of Team Heavenbreaker, though, Gao Yang could more than afford it.

Past midnight, the four of them barely made it to the cruise. They got their tickets checked and were led to the premium cruise on a higher deck.

Officer Huang shared a room with Heavenly Dog, and Gao Yang with Qing Ling.

Gao Yang opened the door and entered. The cabin looked like a hotel with light blue and white as the main colors, the air faintly fragrant. The rug was soft, and the large bed comfortable. There were also beanbags, home theater system, fridge, washing machine, and microwave, whatever they would need during the trip. The large fan-shaped window wall led to an open balcony with a beach lounger. The view was incredible.

Shutting the door, Gao Yang drew the curtains closed. Qing Ling took off the jacket Gao Yang had lended her.

Her clothes had gotten stained with blood when fighting Cockroach. That was why she needed something to cover them up.

She couldn’t wait to get into the bathroom and start showering, her captivating figure faintly visible through the frosted glass before white steam fogged up the glass.

Gao Yang opened the fridge and grabbed a can of cola, taking a large gulp to get some energy and sugar in him. Finally, he felt alive again.

It had only been an hour since he received Officer Huang’s call, but it didn’t feel like it since they had investigated Officer Huang’s place, fought Tails at the old train station, and now caught a luxurious cruise. Gao Yang was exhausted.

After a quick shower, Qing Ling changed into a bathrobe and threw her clothes into the washing machine. Once washed and tumbled dry, she hung them on the balcony.

Half an hour later, Heavenly Dog and Officer Huang came knocking.

They looked less tired than before, and Officer Huang was calmer; he realized that Su Xi must be alive at the moment. If Tails aimed to kill her, they would’ve done it already rather than going through all the trouble.

Gao Yang made each of them a cup of instant coffee and turned on the television, switching to a sports channel and turning up the volume.

The four of them sat in a circle, discussing their next move.

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