The Creatures That We Are

In an instant, the vitality saved in Vermilion Bird’s body was injected into Edmond’s lifeless corpse. Two seconds later, the Black Gold altar under the corpse glowed faintly of a gray light.

Edmond slowly opened his eyes, which glinted with the same faint gray.

He didn’t move, but opened his eyes slightly.

“Answer the questions, Edmond,” Vermilion Bird spoke at a hastened pace but in an authoritative tone that demanded obedience.

“Yes.”

Edmond’s tone was devoid of emotions, the cold, hoarse voice squeezed out of the throat like an echo from the abyss, chilling.

“Do wanderers and humans give birth to Spectres?”

Qilin had learned of Gao Yang’s hypothesis, and he asked the first question.

“They do not,” Edmond responded.

Qilin paused. Had Gao Yang guessed wrong?

Without wasting any time, he asked a different question, “Where do Spectres come from?”

“Life monsters,” Edmond responded.

Spectres came from life monsters!

Qilin was shocked. That was entirely different from what Gao Yang had speculated.

He quickly asked, “What part of a life monster does the holy water come from?”

“Amniotic fluid.”

Amniotic fluid.

It seemed that not only did life monsters give birth to lives, they were mammals like humans, hence they had amniotic fluid.

Then back at the No.7 Winery in West Nation, the large organ Gao Yang had found in the giant growth tank in the basement must be a life monster’s uterus.

It was a mystery how the life monster died.

“What is the relationship between life monsters and wanderers?” Qilin continued with a question they had come up with beforehand.

“One sows seeds in the other.” Edmond’s response was concise and abstract.

“How?” Qilin pressed.

“Crimson Tide...” Edmond’s parted lips paused for two seconds. He seemed to be processing information. During those two seconds, Qilin barely managed to tamp down the urge to pose another question.

Edmond sorted out his thoughts and continued, “Wanderers turn into seeds after death, and life monsters send seeds back into wanderers via the blood fog... Seeds, wanderers, reincarnation...”

So that was the truth!

Qilin was shocked. It all made sense now!

It was true that monsters didn’t have proper reproductive systems. To ensure the cycles of life, life monsters were in charge of sowing the seeds.

Every ten years, using the red fog of the Crimson Tide as a medium, life monsters put the seeds the dead wanderers turned into back in the bodies of female wanderers. Then the female wanderers would “give birth to” new wanderers at a certain time, thus creating the facade of procreation.

Female wanderers thought they had carried and given birth to children normally, while the children were allocated to them by life monsters.

It was likely that the elite monsters, namely monsters outside of wanderers, didn’t have the ability to give birth, which would explain why wanderers were put to sleep during the seven nights of the Crimson Tide, but not the elite monsters.

It also explained how elite monsters differentiated between wanderers, regular humans, and awakeners during the Crimson Tide.

While regular humans would fall unconscious too, their bodies naturally repelled the seeds in the red fog. Perhaps the seeds were only visible to elite monsters, and not even awakeners could see them.

That was how elite monsters went after awakeners in a frenzy during the Crimson Tide.

In truth, Qilin hadn’t gotten through all those thoughts in such a short time. With a rough idea in mind, he wasted no time to keep asking questions.

“What other abilities and duties do life monsters have?”

“Give birth,” said Edmond.

“To what?”

“Forlorn ghosts...” Edmond seemed to have uttered something else after that, but he didn’t make any sound.

Forlorn ghosts must be the Spectres.

“What else?” Qilin quickly asked.

Edmond stopped answering, and the gray light in his eyes dimmed and quieted. He slowly closed his eyes, all of the injected vitality drained from the body. He was gone forever.

Vermilion Bird’s face was covered in sweat, and she panted. She never expected it to be so difficult to question a body for 35 seconds. As expected of a corpse contaminated by the energy of a life monster. She had never encountered something like it.

Life monsters were terrifying beings.

She let go of Edmond’s hand and said apologetically, “I’ve done my best.”

“Good work.” Qilin didn’t question or blame her.

“Guildmaster!” Vermilion Bird turned to Qilin, her gaze imploring. “We must support Seven Shadow. The life monster is too strong. They aren’t its match.”

Qilin didn’t say anything.

“The life monster must be looking to use the child in Su Xi’s womb to complete a scheme,” Vermilion Bird added.

Azure Dragon chimed in, “Perhaps life monsters create forlorn ghosts or something even more terrifying with sacrifices like Su Xi. We have to stop it.”

Qilin remained silent.

“Guildmaster! We must send reinforcements now, or tell Seven Shadow to stop investigating!”

Qilin’s expression remained cold, and he didn’t voice his stance.

Vermilion Bird didn’t understand it. She turned to Azure Dragon, “Say something, Azure Dragon!”

Azure Dragon had a troubled look on his face. Although he did believe they should help Seven Shadow, he trusted and obeyed Qilin’s orders unconditionally.

“Seven Shadow will die!” Vermilion Bird was on the verge of losing it. “We can’t lose more people!”

“I have my plan.” Finally, Qilin broke his silence.

“Guildmaster! All these years, I’ve never once defied your orders because you’re right every time, but this time, I disagree.”

“Vermilion Bird, we should trust Guildmaster...”

“How?!” Vermilion Bird cut him off. “This is a life monster we’re talking about. Why aren’t we allowed to help? Okay, let’s say we don’t go to Seven Shadow’s rescue, but we can’t just let important intel about life monsters slip, can we?”

Azure Dragon fell silent. He didn’t understand Qilin’s true intention either.

“I’m sorry, Guildmaster. I’m calling Seven Shadow. I can’t just let a companion march to his death.” Vermilion Bird took out her phone, determined.

Qilin sighed softly rather than stop her. “It’s your choice.”

Vermilion Bird called Gao Yang.

...

Meanwhile, at the White Crane Shrine on top of Mount Kei, Gao Yang’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and saw that it was an encoded call from Vermilion Bird.

“Hello?” Gao Yang picked up immediately.

“Seven Shadow! Hurry...crackle...”

Beep, beep, beep—

Vermilion Bird only got three words out before the signal cut off with a disturbance. Confused, Gao Yang was about to call back when Qing Ling shouted.

“It’s coming!”

Gao Yang’s head jerked up. In the sky, a brilliant white shooting star emerged, flying above the peak of Mount Tamaougi toward the White Crane Shrine on Mount Kei. That must be the source of signal disturbance.

The white shooting star fell unusually quickly. Gao Yang estimated that it would land in less than ten seconds.

He had never felt such overwhelming anxiety and pressure before, and the others felt the same.

Gao Yang’s hands started trembling uncontrollably. He tightened his fists and forced himself to calm down.

“Get ready, everyone.”

A bead of cold sweat streaked down from his forehead.

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