The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 836: Wait for My Return

The baby broke into a heartwrenching wail after losing the pacifier like she had lost the world. Even Gao Yang, an outsider here, couldn’t help but want to comfort her.

A minute later, the door to the flat opened by a crack, behind the door was a man in pajamas and a nightcap.

His cheeks were sunken, his chin wide, his eyes rimmed with deep shadow, and the wrinkles around his mouth pronounced. He looked cold in a tired, gloomy way, giving an unapproachable impression, but the nightcap he wore was printed with the drawing of a cute fawn. The contrast was striking.

Gao Yang recognized at first glance that it was Ghost Horse, only much younger.

Having been woken up at midnight, Ghost Horse looked tired, but his eyes were alert. He observed the situation through the crack of the door for a moment. Then he looked down at the source of the wails.

He gaped. He had thought it was a prank, but it was an actual living baby.

After five seconds of stunned inaction, he opened the door and quickly picked the baby up with great care, awkwardly reassuring her. “It’s okay. It’s okay...”

The baby cried harder.

“It’s fine. Hush. It’s all good...” Ghost Horse helplessly shook the baby in his arms and started singing, “Mother is the best in the world. She loves a child like her everything...”

Given how sophisticated Ghost Horse’s taste in music was, it was surprising that he couldn’t even hold a tune when singing a nursery rhyme.

Suddenly, his singing and the baby’s wailing both stopped. Gao Yang realized that the scene had ended. Liu Qingying’s recreation of her memory for Gao Yang’s viewing had reached its end.

Without a glance back, Gao Yang ran in the direction Liu Qingying had left.

He opened the door he had come through earlier. Blinding light flooded over him like a tsunami and swallowed him.

...

Gao Yang slowly opened his eyes and woke up from the Sweet Dream.

“Captain’s awake!” Hong Xiaoxiao had been sitting by his side, holding a pillow to her chest to wait for Gao Yang in earnest.

Hearing her call, the others came up to him. Some were in the living room, while others were in the front or back yard.

Wang Zikai plopped himself down beside Gao Yang and hooked an arm around his shoulder. “You pulled a fast one on us, bro. You told all of us to come just to watch you sleep. What was that? Were you a sleep streamer?”

“Yeah.” Zhang Wei cackled. “If you slept a little longer, I would have reasonable ground to suspect that you were playing the sleeping beauty to try to get the first kiss of a pure-hearted boy, me!”

“Ew! You were disgusting!” Wang Zikai sounded impressed.

“Mortal, this Empress will allow you to kiss my right foot.” With her hands on her hips, Nainai took off her dress shoes and stepped on the tea table with her feet, which were in white socks. She looked down at Gao Yang.

She tried to stand taller than everyone at every chance to emphasize her royal status.

Standing behind the sofa, Qing Ling didn’t even waste the effort to open her mouth. Instead, she lifted her right hand slightly to rest it on the hilt of her blades by her waist.

Nainai shuddered and jumped off the tea table in panic, putting her shoes back on and grabbing a seat with her legs pressed together, her hands meekly clasped on her lap. The reserved posture was in stark contrast with her haughty display earlier.

“Did something go wrong, Captain?” Nine Frost had a bad feeling about it.

Gao Yang gradually recovered from the fantastical feeling brought about by the Sweet Dream. He said in a grave cold voice, “Liu Qingying died.”

“Huh?!” Chen Ying started. “She died? How?”

“Wait, didn’t she just join the Ocean River Union?” Zhang Wei had the same question. “The Union’s safe. How did she die?”

“I don’t know.” Gao Yang’s eyes darkened. “She planted a dream in my consciousness. If she died, the dream would be triggered.”

“Holy shit! Wait, so you were having the dream?” Wang Zikai had a rare moment of epiphany.

“The Millenium Tower fell. Liu Qingying died...” Hong Xiaoxiao put two and two together. “It seems that the two incidents are linked.”

“Was Liu Qingying actually on the Twelve Zodiac’s side?” Chen Ying made a bold guess. “She went to the Union as a spy but got found out, and the Union retaliated by attacking the Zodiacs?”

“That is a possibility.” Nine Frost nodded.

“But how would the Union dare to do that?!” Zhang Wei was shocked. “It’s the Twelve Zodiac Signs! War Tiger! Dragon! The Ocean River Union couldn’t even wipe out the Nine Scions. Why would they dare to target the Zodiacs?”

It’s possible that Qilin made the gamble after having trouble dealing with us, betting on the possibility that Dragon’s still hibernating. His goal was to kill Dragon and grab the Psyche Rune Circuit for himself.

Gao Yang didn’t voice his theory.

He looked up at Nine Frost. “We don’t know how the Zodiacs fare. Both Heavenly Dog and Fat Jun had come to this mansion before. We risk getting exposed here. Clean up our tracks immediately. We’re moving.”

“Understood,” Nine Frost said.

“I’m going out to take care of something.” Gao Yang stood up. Hong Xiaoxiao immediately took his black coat and lifted it for him.

“Thank you.”

Gao Yang put on the coat and tied his long hair into a ponytail. Then he reached out to Nainai and Hong Xiaoxiao.

Both took his hands without missing a beat. Gao Yang replicated Nainai’s Gale and Hong Xiaoxiao’s Invisibility.

Then Nainai put her hands on Gao Yang’s face, disguising him with Shapeshifter. In a little over ten seconds, he had transformed into an unassuming young man with no eye-catching traits.

Then Gao Yang thought of something and warned, “Chen Ying, if anyone from the Twelve Zodiac Signs contacts you in secret, don’t respond immediately. It may be someone from the Union in disguise. Wait for my return.”

“Understood.” Chen Ying nodded calmly.

...

Old City Area, Nanji District, three o’clock in the morning.

It was an old street block awaiting renewal. All residents had moved out, and the shops had closed down. Due to electricity in the area being cut off, not even the street lamps were on. Light gray moonlight rimmed the outlines of the old buildings. The place looked like a ruin in the sea of a bygone period.

A black figure quickly moved between the rooftops of the buildings, soon reaching an old shop at the end of the street. The rolling door was covered in rust and wilted ivies. The signboard that said “Female Undergarments Shop” was crooked with spots of peeled-off paint, and it was covered in dust.

Gao Yang extended his six senses to make sure that there was no danger in the area or anyone following him.

Then he disappeared from view.