The Creatures That We Are

“We’ll reach the Island Nation tomorrow night, but reinforcements have to catch the next flight or cruise and won't be with us until at least the day after tomorrow.”

“The day after tomorrow?!” Officer Huang had finally calmed a little, but what Gao Yang said made him agitated again.

Gao Yang offered, “Patience. We need to spend time looking for Su Xi once we get to the Island Nation anyway. We won’t run into enemies immediately.”

“My wife...” Officer Huang hesitated. “Was she grabbed by the shooting star?”

“Likely so.” Gao Yang thought back to it. “First, we can be sure that it wasn’t a member of the Godbearer Cult since whoever it was had killed Edmond and taken Su Xi.”

“But Edmond should be in his Unreachable state,” said Qing Ling.

“Ha, only to us. The Talent didn’t work facing a stronger enemy, apparently. He got what he deserved.” Officer Huang reveled in the misery of his enemy.

Qing Ling thought about who the enemy could be. She shared her speculation, “Was the shooting star a life monster’s doing?”

The others nodded in agreement.

“You saw the phoenix in the sky, right?” asked Officer Huang. “It’s quite similar to the life monster we ran into in the West Nation. It must be a life monster.”

Then Officer Huang asked in confusion, “But why did the life monster grab my wife? She had no qualms with life monsters, and my wife is a monster too. Why would a monster want to hurt another monster?”

“Like Tails, the life monster could be after her for the same thing,” Gao Yang said.

“What is it?” Officer Huang stared at him.

Gao Yang paused. “Officer Huang, it’s just my speculation. It may not be...”

“Just say it. I can take it!” Officer Huang got worked up again.

“Alright.” Gao Yang sighed softly, glancing at the others. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I’ll get to my conclusion first. I believe that there’s always been a slim chance for a human and a monster to have a child, and there have been cases like that before—more than one.”

Officer Huang, Qing Ling, and Heavenly Dog waited for him to continue with bated breath.

“Spectres,” Gao Yang said.

The room was silent for three seconds.

“Ah!” Officer Huang called out, coming to a realization. “That’s right! Yes! Lithe Snake said that he saved two Spectres twenty years ago...”

Gao Yang nodded. “Yes, that was how I got to the guess.”

“But didn’t monsters not have actual reproductive systems?” Heavenly Dog asked.

“There can always be exceptions even though we don’t know how it happens,” Gao Yang said. “Let’s assume that exceptions do exist.”

Heavenly Dog quieted.

Gao Yang continued, “Suppose that the Godbearer Cult knew that there is a slim chance for a human and a monster to have a child. The child, a combination of both species, has a complete personality and doesn't flip out and get bloodthirsty as soon as they see a human like monsters do. However, they still need an awakener’s energy in order to sustain their life. Moreover, they are born with volatile curses that empower them, but can take their lives at any time—the Spectres.”

Officer Huang clenched his fists, his face pale. It would be both good news and bad news.

The good news was that his child would be born into this world safely rather than die in the womb or suffer something even worse; the bad news was that his child might need to feed on awakeners in the future. Officer Huang would be willing to give the child his life, but what about after his death?

He didn’t dare to follow the thought.

Gao Yang gave them some time to think before continuing, “The Godbearer Cult had long known about the secret, and they had thus been capturing Spectres.”

“Twenty years ago, Lithe Snake released a pair of twins with silver hair and red eyes in the basement of a human trafficer’s mansion in the Rogue Cape. The Cult could be behind the Spectres’ capture.”

“To the Cult, who wanted to make use of Spectres, it would be better to capture them as young as possible.”

“After years of experience in capturing Spectres, the Cult refined their method and figured out the best time to go after them—when the Spectre was still in their mother’s womb.”

“The Tails went after my wife because she was going to give birth soon!” Officer Huang clenched his teeth, his rage tearing at his chest and overwhelmed him with great pain.

Gao Yang nodded. “Tails might have discovered your wife recently, or they might have known for long and had been waiting patiently until they made a move earlier, all for the child in her womb, a Spectre.”

“Son of a bitch!” Officer Huang tugged at his hair, needing a target to unleash his rage at but finding none.

“Then why did the life monster want Su Xi?” Qing Ling didn’t get it. “What use would a life monster have for a Spectre?”

“I don’t know. We know almost nothing about life monsters,” Gao Yang lifted his head and said dejectedly. “I’ll list what we know about life monsters. Let’s see if we can brainstorm our way to some clues.”

“First, life monsters are incredibly strong, and they have at least two forms: a human form and a giant bird form.”

“Secondly, life monsters’ blood or some other parts can be used to produce holy water, which triggers an awakener’s berserk state and turns them into a powerful but mindless abomination.”

“Thirdly, there are very few life monsters, and they aren’t outrightly hostile to humans. There have been no cases of life monsters actively hurting awakeners or humans at large.”

Gao Yang thought back to the evil ritual—or what he assumed it to be—at the crossroad that night. He added, “Moreover, wanderers hold an instinctual deference to life monsters. They call life monsters mother.”

“I remember what you said about Niu Xuan...” Officer Huang recalled his conversation with Gao Yang. “He was calling out for mother before his death.”

“Yes,” Gao Yang said.

“You speculated that wanderers could be produced by a Monster Supreme.” Qing Ling turned to Gao Yang. “Could life monsters be that?”

“They must be!” Officer Huang looked pained. “But I still don’t understand why a life monster would grab my wife.”

“I’m afraid only the life monster could tell us that.” Gao Yang tried to assure Officer Huang. “Don’t be too worried. Ms. Su isn’t expected to give birth until more than ten days later. She should be safe until then.”

Officer Huang didn’t say anything. His rational mind did agree with the speculation.

After a moment of silence, Gao Yang thought of something. “Your mother is from the Island Nation, right, Heavenly Dog? You’re familiar with the place, aren’t you?”

Heavenly Dog paused and didn’t say anything.

“Although the Island Nation isn’t big, it’ll be difficult for so few people to find Su Xi without any leads. The task will be nigh impossible if the life monster hides on purpose.”

“No, that’s not right. We have to think about it in reverse.” Officer Huang forced himself to calm down and think like a police officer. “First, why did the life monster take my wife to the Island Nation rather than any other place? For example, the Snow Nation or the West Nation? Won’t a bigger nation be better for hiding?”

The other three agreed.

Officer Huang rubbed at his temple before adding, “There’s another thing. Why would Edmond know that the life monster that killed him was taking my wife to the Island Nation? The life monster couldn’t have told him. Edmond must have known it somehow.”

“Yes, that’s crucial.” Gao Yang caught on. “That means there’s a concrete reason the life monster must go to the Island Nation.”

“It could be for something, or someone,” suggested Officer Huang.

“Perhaps an altar?” Qing Ling suggested coolly.

Gao Yang paused before coming to a realization. “Do you mean...an altar like the one on the mountain behind the No.7 Winery, in West Nation?”

Officer Huang called out in realization. “The altar in the West Nation is the burial site for a life monster. The dead life monster got reanimated there!”

“Could it be...” Gao Yang felt a shudder run down his spine. He boldly speculated. “That the life monster wants to resurrect their fellow life monster?”

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m