The Creatures That We Are

“What?” Gao Yang asked.

“Turn around,” Qing Ling said.

“Oh.”

Gao Yang slowly turned around in the water, facing the thick screen separating the women’s and men’s areas.

“Look at the screen,” Qing Ling instructed.

Gao Yang looked up to see a landscape painting done in the style of ukiyo-e[1]. The main subject of the painting was the red torii erected on top of a steep slope. Through the torii, the not so distant Mount Tamaougi could be made out.

The scope of the painting was vast, the landscape quiet and wistful with a hint of dignity and solemnity.

“Where is this place?” Gao Yang asked.

“Don’t know.” Qing Ling shook her head. “It must be a mountain near Mount Tamaougi. Is this a shrine?”

“Although there is only one torii, it should be a shrine.”

“We didn’t go there today.”

Gao Yang paused, catching on to what Qing Ling was getting at. He was reminded then of what the tour guide had said:

“Torii is a distinct architectural structure in this nation. It’s the entrance to the divine realm. Past the gate is the realm of the deities. It only takes a single step...”

As soon as Gao Yang remembered that, he heard the sound of the wooden door getting pulled open.

It was the hotel owner. She walked over, holding a wooden basin with a towel inside. In awkward Li City language, she said, “I’ve fetched a towel for you.”

She looked at Qing Ling. Qing Ling’s hands were underwater at an awkward angle, and there were bubbles coming up before her chest.

“Thank you.” Qing Ling lifted a hand from the water and pointed at the screen. “Where is this place?”

“Oh, it’s the White Crane Shrine on Mount Kei,” the owner explained with a smile. “Heh, it’ll take an hour to climb up the mountain. The path is muddy and difficult to walk on. At this time, there are very few visitors there. It’s beautiful to look at Mount Tamaougi from there in winter.”

“What god does the White Crane Shrine pay tribute to?”

“There are many versions of the story. One is that a crane ascended and became a celestial guarding Mount Kei throughout generations, and another tells of a white, phoenix-like giant bird rather than a crane. My grandmother said that she had seen Them once and made a wish, thus giving birth to my mother the next year. Haha, everyone thinks she made it up...”

“Okay.” Qing Ling ended the conversation after getting what she wanted.

“Then I’ll leave you to it.” The owner put down the wooden basin and the towel before taking her leave in small elegant steps, closing the wooden door behind her.

Splash! Gao Yang popped his head out of the hot spring. Fortunately, he was quite good at holding his breath, or he would’ve drowned.

“Ack, ack!” Gao Yang coughed. “Qing Ling, you...”

“I didn’t want you to get discovered.”

“I get that.” Gao Yang felt a little wronged. “But have you forgotten that I can teleport?” He could’ve just returned to the men’s area.

Qing Ling paused. Although she knew Gao Yang was right, she said coldly, “I’m quicker.”

Gao Yang suppressed an eyeroll. And now you’re refusing to acknowledge your mistake like your sister does.

“What is it? You got a clue?” Officer Huang was anxious on the other side of the screen.

Gao Yang responded, “Yeah, it’s the White Crane Shrine on Mount Kei. It’s very likely an altar for the white phoenix. Let’s go!”

Splash!

Qing Ling, ever the woman of action, stood up from the hot spring right before Gao Yang and turned to put on her clothes.

Startled, Gao Yang screamed and teleported back to the men’s area. Officer Huang and Heavenly Dog had put on their towels and were rising to leave then.

They saw Gao Yang blanking out with a panicked expression and a flushed face, like he had been shaken to the core.

“What is it?” Officer Huang asked.

Heart pounding, Gao Yang said, “No-nothing. Let’s go!”

...

They changed into casual clothes and quietly left the hot spring hotel, heading to Mount Kei, near Mount Tamaougi.

Suffice to say that Heavenly Dog’s Fly was perfect for rushing from places to places. The muddy path that would’ve taken them half an hour to traverse took them only around five minutes.

The mountain wasn’t that tall, dwarfed by Mount Tamaougi in comparison. From high above, it looked like a tiny umbrella next to a giant umbrella.

The four of them landed on the top of the mountain, on a flat, empty muddy ground the size of a soccer field. It was surrounded on three sides by dense forest, while the open front led to a steep cliff.

On the edge of the cliff was a red torii less than three meters tall.

The four of them headed to the torii after landing. Through the red gate, they could see Mount Tamaougi against the backdrop of the beautiful night sky and the clear moon.

It would be midnight soon. The mountain was serenely quiet save for the gusts of wind. The four of them looked at the ancient and lonesome torii, feeling a sense of indescribable melancholy.

“This is it,” said Gao Yang.

“I don’t see an altar.” Qing Ling held onto her two blades.

“Me neither.” Heavenly Dog narrowed his eyes with his hands in his pockets.

Gao Yang continued to ask, “Can any of you sense anything? A strange force field perhaps?”

Officer Huang shook his head and went up to touch the red pillars of the torii, going through it and walking around it tentatively for a good few minutes, but nothing happened.

He sighed dejectedly.

He had been more anxious to get here than anyone, but deep down, he had a feeling that things were going too smoothly, and it didn’t seem right.

Gao Yang disagreed. For some reason, his instinct told him that this was the place.

“Don’t worry. We’ll look further...” Gao Yang was interrupted by his phone.

...

Five minutes ago.

The special necropsy room at the Northbound Funeral Home in Li City was a barebone square room, at the center of which was a rectangular altar made of Black Gold. Edmond’s corpse lay on the altar, entirely naked and only covered in a piece of white cloth.

Qilin, Azure Dragon, and Vermilion Bird stood by the altar.

Vermilion Bird was the closest to Edmond’s body. She took his cold, stiff hand. Three seconds later, Vermilion Bird said with certainty, “The energy’s just about gone. I can interrogate the body.”

Qilin nodded slightly, his eyes calm and deep under the glasses. “How long can you get out of him?”

Vermilion Bird shook her head, not feeling optimistic. “Thirty seconds. No longer than 45 seconds.”

Azure Dragon sighed, clearly dissatisfied. “It seems we won’t get to ask all the questions we list.”

Qilin said, “We have to pick from the list. I’ll do it.”

Vermilion Bird nodded. “Okay. Hold my hand.”

Qilin went up to take Vermilion Bird’s other hand.

Before they started, Vermilion Bird reminded him, “Remember, he’ll stay silent if he doesn’t know the answer. Don’t wait. Just ask the next question. Moreover, the body gives an answer based on his knowledge, but there’s no telling if the answer is correct or objective. What he knew before his death could be incomplete, even wrong.”

“I get it.” Qilin didn’t have any more questions.

Vermilion Bird took a deep breath and held Edmond’s hand with her other hand.

Eyes closed, she tapped into the energy inside her body and muttered, “Equivalent Exchange.”

1. A genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. ☜

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